Le due poesie in sotadei di Petronio (Sat. 23.3; 132.8)

Abstract

The two poems in Sotadean verse in the Satyrica are bound not merely by the metre, but also by the lewdness of the subject –typical of the Sotadean tradition–, the castration theme, the links with the Priapean genre and, last but not least, an explicit reference by the author himself (similar formulas introduce the first composition and mark the end of Encolpius’ speech connecting the second one with the Vergilian cento of 132.11, closely associated with the Sotadeans). The first poem, recited by a cinaedus, has a countpart in the Sotadeans spoken by a gallus in the so called Iolaos Novel (POxy 3010), but differs in as much as it is presented as a solo performance, whose structure is marked by the recurrent employment of the trikolon. The second composition follows the pattern of the equivocal epic parody typical of Sotades. The Homeric theme is supplemented by irreverent nods to language and content of the Vergilian epic –especially Dido’s episode–, overflowing also into the immediate context (the Sotadeans, Encolpius’ speech and the Vergilian cento form a close-knit section of parodical tone). The composition’s epic parody is enriched and nuanced through reference to erotic poetry –to whose repertoire the theme of impotence belongs– as well as by linguistic traits typical of spoken idiom and comedy’s expression.