Satyrica

 My reading of the first surviving chapter (Agamemnon) of Petronius's vulgar comedy 'Satyrica'. This is widely considered to be the earliest version of a novel, recounting the bawdy adventures of a former gladiator, Encolpius, and his boyfriend Giton. Much of the original work is lost which goes some way to explain why the story tends to jump about all over the place. It is written in the first person, from Encolpius' point of view, as he travels about with Giton and two friends whom he'd probably be better off without. The first few chapters are missing, so this recording picks up with Encolpius some way into his torrid life. Quite what happened earlier is open to speculation, but I assume it involves how the gladiator met Giton and some palaver in which they sowed a lot of coins into the hem of a garment (presumably to hide them) that was then stolen or lost - reappearing in this chapter.

Unusually for a Classical work, the characters in the Satyrica are almost entirely from the plebeian caste. The author was very wealthy so whether his understanding of working class life is wholly a product of the imagination, or if he made some effort to research by hanging out in taverns and fleshpots is a matter of debate. In some respects this may form part of the same tradition as Little Britain's Vicky Pollard, where the lower classes are regarded as a bit thick and slutty by the upwardly mobile scriptwriters. That said, Encolpius holds forth with his views on matters of literature so he is no knuckle-dragger. His views on education are so fresh they can be heard repeated in many a staffroom and across social media to this very day.

I'm not sure how much of the rest I will record - or even could record, given that some of it is actually quite revolting (and in some parts illegal) by modern standards. Possibly by quite a few ancient people's standards too. However, I thought it would make a change to record something other than ghost tales and children's stories (as well as my own original stuff).