What Trimalchio can teach us

Imagine a dinner table piled high with every  luxury, with hordes of servants bringing a plethora of new dishes every other minute. Imagine a man who is so ridiculously wealthy that he stuffs his cushions with precious scarlet wool and tosses around human life as if it is worth less than his shoe. His dinner guests are disgusted and discomfited by his outrageous behavior and to put the capstone on the nightmarish evening, he enacts his death, having his household and guests grieve as if he is dead and describes the elaborate plans for his monument.

If you can picture this scene, you already have a good understanding of Trimalchio's dinner, part of the scandalous and outrageous Satyricon. This work is considered one of the world’s first novels and this portion of the book is written in menippean satire, which means that the author’s intent is to oppose mental attitudes instead of individuals.  This makes sense in light of the Satyricon’s writing structure; Trimalchio’s character and lifestyle  is the primary focus but the author clearly has another motive in mind when he paints this outrageous picture for us. This was a serious issue in the author, Petronius’s time.  The reign of Nero was well under way, wreaking havoc with the Roman life with his unruly, dangerous behavior. Throwing scholarship aside, Nero was a determined hedonist, whose extravagance is still legendary today.
 Of the many connections this work has to our materialistic culture today, I think the most important one is to each of us. I know that many relate this passage to the modern day privileged few that make billions off corrupt trading practice overseas and the devaluation of employees here. Assuredly, many names come to mind. However, I think it is too easy to read a piece of literature such as this and blame someone else. I think in a real and legitimate sense, we are all Trimalchio in some way and finding his likeness in the people around us is taking the easy way out.  If we could see the food, resources, possessions, time, and materials we have all wasted or used irresponsibly, we would no doubt rival the excess of Trimalchio’s groaning banquet table. The food we waste because of preconceived notions of what we deserve and the shameful way we behave if food or possessions are not what we wanted is just as wrong as Trimalchio’s antics. I appreciate Becky’s comments about this issue in class; the reason why stores and restaurants waste resources so shamelessly is because we told them that in order to keep our business that is what they must do.
If our supermarkets  resemble Trimalchio’s table with the ridiculous excess, then we resemble Trimalchio, banging his fist as he demands more and more. We have to realize that responsibility starts with us; if we change, then the individuals that are the Trimalchios of today will have to change too.



http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5225/5225-h/5225-h.htm#linkVOLUME_II.
http://www.chow.com/food-news/83216/7-shocking-food-waste-stats/
https://utahrecycles.org/get-the-facts/