Trimalchio
Encyclopedia
Trimalchio is a character in the Roman
novel
The Satyricon
by Petronius
. He plays a part only in the section titled Cena Trimalchionis (The Banquet of Trimalchio). Trimalchio is a freedman
who through hard work and perseverance has attained power and wealth. His full name is Gaius Pompeius Trimalchio Maecenatianus; the references to Pompey
and Maecenas in his name serve to enhance his ostentatious character. His wife's name is Fortunata, a former slave and chorus girl. Trimalchio is known for throwing lavish dinner parties
, where his numerous servants bring course after course of exotic delicacies
, such as live bird
s sewn up inside a pig
, live birds inside fake eggs which the guests have to 'collect' themselves and a dish to represent every sign of the zodiac
.
The Satyricon has a lengthy description of Trimalchio's proposed tomb
(71-72) which is incredibly ostentatious and lavish. This tomb was to be designed by a well-known tomb-builder called Habinnas
, who was among the revellers present at Trimalchio's feast. He sought to impress his guests—the Roman nouveau riche
, mostly freedmen—with the ubiquitous excesses seen throughout his dwelling. By the end of the banquet, Trimalchio's drunken showiness leads to the entire household acting out his funeral, all for his own amusement and egotism.
Greek Empire
-Classical Greece:* Athenian Empire* Macedonian Empire-Hellenistic civilization:In the Hellenistic period, Greek Empire can refer to any individual successor state of the Diadochi:* Seleucid dynasty* Antigonid dynasty* Ptolemaic dynasty-Middle Ages:...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Satyricon
Satyricon
Satyricon is a Latin work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry. It is believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as a certain Titus Petronius...
by Petronius
Petronius
Gaius Petronius Arbiter was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian age.-Life:...
. He plays a part only in the section titled Cena Trimalchionis (The Banquet of Trimalchio). Trimalchio is a freedman
Freedman
A freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation ....
who through hard work and perseverance has attained power and wealth. His full name is Gaius Pompeius Trimalchio Maecenatianus; the references to Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
and Maecenas in his name serve to enhance his ostentatious character. His wife's name is Fortunata, a former slave and chorus girl. Trimalchio is known for throwing lavish dinner parties
Dinner party
Dinner Party or The Dinner Party may refer to:* A type of party* The Dinner Party,an installation artwork by Judy Chicago* The Dinner Party , by Neil Simon* Dinner Party , by Pier Vittorio Tondelli...
, where his numerous servants bring course after course of exotic delicacies
Delicacy
A delicacy is a food item that is considered highly desirable in certain cultures. Often this is because of unusual flavors or characteristics or because it is rare....
, such as live bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s sewn up inside a pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
, live birds inside fake eggs which the guests have to 'collect' themselves and a dish to represent every sign of the zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
.
The Satyricon has a lengthy description of Trimalchio's proposed tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
(71-72) which is incredibly ostentatious and lavish. This tomb was to be designed by a well-known tomb-builder called Habinnas
Habinnas
Habinnas is one of the guests at Trimalchio's Feast in the Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter. He is described as a stonemason, who has designed the luxurious tomb that Trimalchio shows off to his guests, and like Trimalchio he is a sevir. It has been suggested that the name is Semitic...
, who was among the revellers present at Trimalchio's feast. He sought to impress his guests—the Roman nouveau riche
Nouveau riche
The nouveau riche , or new money, comprise those who have acquired considerable wealth within their own generation...
, mostly freedmen—with the ubiquitous excesses seen throughout his dwelling. By the end of the banquet, Trimalchio's drunken showiness leads to the entire household acting out his funeral, all for his own amusement and egotism.
In popular culture:
- Trimalchio is referred to in the novel PompeiiPompeii (novel)Pompeii is a novel by author and journalist Robert Harris published by Random House in 2003. It is a blend of fictional characters with the real-life eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 that overwhelmed Pompeii and its surrounding towns. Pompeii is especially notable for the author's...
by Robert HarrisRobert Harris (novelist)Robert Dennis Harris is an English novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC television reporter.-Early life:Born in Nottingham, Harris spent his childhood in a small rented house on a Nottingham council estate. His ambition to become a writer arose at an early age, from visits to the local...
, where the character Numerius Popidius Ampliatus, also a freed slave who has become wealthy, throws a great, but ghastly, dinner party where there is too much for everyone to eat. One of the magistrates present for the banquet, Quintus Brittius, secretly mouths the word Tri-mal-chio to Ampliatus's former master, Lucius Popidius Secundus, one of the aedileAedileAedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...
s of PompeiiPompeiiThe city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, to their greater amusement.
- There is a single mention of Trimalchio in F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
's The Great GatsbyThe Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
as his showy parties and background parallels that of Gatsby: Chapter Seven begins, "It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night - and, as obscurely as it began, his career as Trimalchio was over." Trimalchio and Trimalchio in West EggTrimalchio (novel)Trimalchio: An Early Version of "The Great Gatsby" is a published complete early draft of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.The original title of The Great Gatsby was "Trimalchio in West Egg." The Great Gatsby contains a reference to Trimalchio in the introduction to Chapter 7:It was when...
were among Fitzgerald's working titles for the novel.
- H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Rats in the WallsThe Rats in the Walls"The Rats in the Walls" is a short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Written in August–September 1923, it was first published in Weird Tales, March 1924.-Plot summary:...
" makes reference to Trimalchio, reading, "There was a vision of a Roman feast like that of Trimalchio, with a horror in a covered platter."
- Trimalchio is mentioned and quoted by Henry MillerHenry MillerHenry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
in his book Black Spring. The section titled "Third of Fourth Day of Spring" opens with a quotation reading: "To piss warm and drink cold, as Trimalchio says, because our mother the earth is in the middle..."
- Trimalchio's Feast is alluded to in the short story "Toga Party" by John BarthJohn BarthJohn Simmons Barth is an American novelist and short-story writer, known for the postmodernist and metafictive quality of his work.-Life:...
, which was included in The Best American Short Stories 2007, in reference to Tom and Patsy Hardison's lavish toga party.
- Trimalchio and his feast are referenced in Octavio PazOctavio PazOctavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
's poem, "I Speak of the City."
- Lina uses the term "Trimalchian" to describe a wonderful salad prepared for her by Ned in the play, "Three Days Of Rain" by, Richard GreenbergRichard GreenbergRichard Greenberg is an American playwright. He is the author of over 25 plays including eight South Coast Repertory world premieres: Our Mother's Brief Affair, The Injured Party, The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, Hurrah at Last, Three Days of Rain Richard Greenberg (1958–present) is an American...
.
- Thomas Love PeacockThomas Love PeacockThomas Love Peacock was an English satirist and author.Peacock was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work...
mentions Trimalchio and Niceros in his preface to Rhododaphne (1818).