PETRONIUS - a spooky story

Question 1

servirem

Line 1

Answer 1

the speaker is now a freedman, but this tale took place whilst he was still a slave. There was a Roman stereotype that the lower classes were more prone to superstition

Question 2

uxor Terentii cauponis… contubernalis

Lines 1-2

Answer 2

• One reading is that Melissa is the uxor of Terentius - he is a freedman (running the inn on behalf of his former master)
• She also had a contubernalis - this is the word used for ‘partner’ when traditional marriage could not take place because both parties were slaves and therefore could not marry
• This would suggest that Melissa has a husband who was a freedman and a partner who was a slave and ran his master’s farm (ad villam), where he has now died, clearing the way for Niceros
• An alternative reading is that Niceros is simply using the wrong vocabulary – Melissa only has one partner, Terentius, an innkeeper who just happened to be at the farm when he died

Question 3

pulcherrimum bacciballum

Line 2

Answer 3

• bacciballum is a compound of bacca (‘berry’) and ballum (‘something round’)
• The context shows us that it is a term of affection, and the tone is suggestive
• The speaker uses the superlative pulcherrimum to show just how appreciative he is of her beauty

Question 4

per scutum per ocream egi

Line 3

Answer 4

• an asyndetic (lack of conjunctions) proverb implying much the same as ‘by hook or by crook’.
• It has been suggested that it originated with gladiators putting every effort into arming themselves for combat in the arena.
• Again this continues the colloquial tone of this account

Question 5

egi aginavi

Answer 5

aginavi the asyndeton and half-rhyme of this verb and the preceding egi gives this whole clause the sound of an everyday phrase

Question 6

in angustiis amici apparent

Linea 4-5

Answer 6

the alliterative sound suggests this might be another proverb: ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’

Question 7

dominus

Line 6

Answer 7

a reminder that the speaker is a slave. His master’s convenient absence gives him the opportunity for his adventure

Question 8

fortis tamquam Orcus

Lines 8-9

Answer 8

• fortis tamquam Orcus foreshadows the immense magical strength of the werewolf
• By using the word Orcus the scene is also set for the supernatural: Orcus was the personification of the punishment aspect of the Underworld

Question 9

gallicinia

Line 9

Answer 9

‘cock-crow’ was about two hours after midnight

Question 10

luna lucebat

Line 9

Answer 10

the soft lalliteration draws attention to the night time setting and
adds to the relaxed tone at the start of the journey

Question 11

tamquam meridie

Lines 9-10

Answer 11

• the full moon has made the night into day (nature has been reversed) suggesting magical forces at work
• The full moon was not explicitly linked to werewolves in Roman times, but the moon in general was linked to magic and supernatural happenings

Question 12

inter monimenta

Line 10

Answer 12

• they are just outside the city, the streets lined with tombs
• This is a suitable place for a supernatural encounter

Question 13

homo meus

Line 10

Answer 13

this creates a friendly tone

Question 14

sedeo ego

Line 11

Answer 14

the singsong rhyme suggests what Niceros is doing and continues the light-hearted nature of the scene

Question 15

cantabundus stelas numero

Line 11

Answer 15

• the implication is that the soldier is taking his time and Niceros has to amuse himself
• This jovial mood is suddenly changed with the verb respexi

Question 16

ille exuit se

Line 12

Answer 16

• the removal of clothing is seen in ancient werewolf tales as a step in shedding humanity
• It is also used in this text as a halfway point in the transformation: our narrator knows that something unusual is happening but does not yet fully understand what

Question 17

mihi anima in naso esse

Line 13

Answer 17

• the Romans believed that on the point of death a person’s soul left through either the nose or the mouth
• The speaker’s soul is on the point of departing

Question 18

tamquam mortuus

Line 14

Answer 18

the sudden change from the previous light-heartedness to horror is emphasised with the simile

Question 19

circumminxit vestimenta sua

Line 14

Answer 19

• a humorous detail, linked to the Roman belief that werewolves needed access to their old clothes to turn back to their human form again
• Here the man marks his territory (like a wolf) with a protective circle before he turns into a werewolf

Question 20

subito lupus factus est

Line 15

Answer 20

the brief statement, coupled with the use of subito, marks a dramatic moment in the text

Question 21

nolite me iocari putare

Line 15

Answer 21

an acknowledgement of the fantastical nature of his story, and again a reminder that our narrator is addressing an audience at a dinner party

Question 22

ululare

Line 15

Answer 22

a vividly onomatopoeic word (‘to howl’) which brings the scene to life

Question 23

in silvas

Line 16

Answer 23

• the woods are, like the necropolis, places where magical events take place
• This is no doubt rooted in genuine fears of wild animals and ambushes, and can be observed in a wide range of folk tales from across the world

Question 24

lapidea

Line 17

Answer 24

building on the concept that the clothes need to be protected, this is a detail unique to Petronius’ werewolf account

Question 25

gladium…strinxi

Line 19

Answer 25

iron was believed to dispel magic and to drive away magical beings – in contrast to bronze (mentioned in our Virgil text), which encouraged magic. Here, his attempts are presented as comically futile

Question 26

Melissa mea mirari

Lines 22-23

Answer 26

• the soft alliteration mirrors the calming effect of Melissa’s presence upon the speaker and also mimics her sense of wonder
• At this point in the story Niceros gets a moment of calm: this allows for greater impact when it is shattered moments later when Melissa tells her tale

Question 27

tamquam lanius

Line 25

Answer 27

the simile is very effective: it is simple and clear yet manages to convey both the professionalism of the kill and its savagery (the lanius is no surgeon, the root of this word is in verbs meaning ‘tear, shred’ and it is cognate with lacer ‘mangled’)

Question 28

luce clara

Line 28

Answer 28

• we can see here the continuation of a common theme - supernatural threat is more likely at night and so our speaker will not venture out until day
• It will become apparent that the werewolf has also changed back to human form now that it is daytime

Question 29

nihil inveni nisi sanguinem

LIne 30

Answer 29

• the placing of nihil at the beginning of the sentence shows us the speaker’s wonder and relief as soon as he came upon the location of his previous adventure, whilst the delay of sanguinem demonstrates how he slowly realised what he was looking at as he surveyed the scene
• Petronius is also using this word order, mimicking the order of the actual events being described, as it is common in spoken language

Question 30

tamquam bos

Line 31

Answer 30

• another brief and effective simile. With one word the speaker conveys the strength and size of the soldier, whilst reminding us that he is also an animal - even when he outwardly appears human
• The word order here is also reversed in a similar way to line 30, showing us the order in which the speaker took in the scene he saw

Question 31

intellexi

Line 31

Answer 31

the emphatic word position at the start of the sentence shows the sudden, dramatic realisation of the complete truth

Students may question how it took so long for Niceros to reach this conclusion, but he has been characterised as slightly dim-witted throughout the text