Petronian Urbanity in the "Carpe, Carpe" Joke (Pet. Sat. 35.7-36.8)

R. Newton: Petronian Urbanity67 Petronian Urbanity in the "Carpe, Carpe" Joke (Pet. Sat. 35.7-36.8) Rick M. Newton Despite Trimalchio's elaborate staging of the scene in which Carpus carves a dish of fattened poultry, sow's udders, and a feathered hare, aU surrounded by Marsyas figurines, the punch line of diejoke on the carver's name falls flat. Part of the humor lies, of course, in Encolpius' inability to detect die obvious point of die seemingly redundant phrase, "Carpe, Carpe.'' Whenhe is so bewildered diat he must ask his neighbor for an explanation, we—die members of Petronius' audience who pride ourselves on our elegance and sophistication—are perhaps amused to observe such a degree of obtuseness in die protagonist. Our amusement is short-lived, however, since Encolpius' question generates an answer. We are now forced to listen to die neighbor's exegesis, and what began as a mildly humorous pun now turns banal: ajoke, once explained, is no longer funny. As our chuckles turn into groans, we wonder if this is indeed die urbanitas (36.7) of die so-oftenrepeated word (totiens iterata vox). The host's lavish preparations have led only to anticlimax. A clue to amore refined and subtle degree ofhumor may Ue in the other voces iteratae of die passage.1 Among die repeated words in die immediate text, we observe that the taeterrima voce (35.7) of Trimalchio's torturing of a song from a mime is echoed by his lentissima voce (36.7) as he draws out his voice in giving orders to die carver. The entire spectacle takes place while music is playing, as the repetition of die phrase ad symphoniam (36.1, 36.6) makes clear: four dancing waiters rush into die room "to musical accompaniment," and Carpus gesticulates "to die orchestra" while hacking away at die meat. Widi carver's gestures described by 1 The punning context of the passage is established by Trimalchio's injunction, "Cenemur. hoc est ius cenae," with which he simultaneously "orders" his guests to eat and introduces the "sauce" of peppered ganan. Since the first recorded instance ofthe double meaning of iusappears in Varro, RR 3.17.4, the similarities between the Varro passage and the Petronian passage may not be coincidental: Varro describes sacred fish in Lydia which, responding to flute music (ad tibicen), swim to the river bank without fear of being caught since no cook dares to "summon them to justice" or to "call them into a sauce" (nospiscis nemo cocus in ius Mocare audet). Varro saw these fish when he visited the "dancing islands of the Lydians" (ínsulas Lydorum ... ???e???s??). Herein may lie the inspiration for Trimalchio's presentation of the dish by dancing waiters. The fish which appear to be swimming in a channel of garum poured by Marsyas figurines may be intended by Petronius as a learned allusion to Varro's fish which respond to the flute. 68Syllecta Classica 3 (1991) the participle gesticulatus—a verb appUed only to mimetic performance2—it appears to Encolpius tiiat tins scene is not so much die carving of an entrée as it is a musical re-enactment of "a character battling to the accompaniment of a water organist."3 Indeed, he likens die entire spectacle to "games" (eiusmodi ludos 36.8). Wititin such a cacophonous context another vox iterata attracts special attention. Carpus' "lacération of die entrée" in 36.6 (laceravit obsonium) is repeated by his "hacking of die entrée" in 36.8 (obsonium carpit). But this seemingly simple repetition of die word obsonium conceals a pun which is as subtle and urbane as die scene's final pun is painfuUy blatant. Indeed, die Marsyas figurines on die tray begin to appear especiaUy apropos: for diemyth ofdie flayed, flute-playing satyr associates musical performance with butchery. Just as die English phrase "to butcher a song" conjures up a humorous mixture of hacking meat and singing, so too Petronius may have perceived potential humor in die Latin idiom lacerare canticum. In 73.3, for example, an inebriated Trimalchio traps his guests in a bath and tortures them by "butchering songs by Menecrates" (coepitMenecratis canaca lacerare). Similarly...