In the following essay, Beck attempts to reconcile discrepancies in the character of Encolpius by considering him as two separate persons: the narrator and the subject of the narration.

In the following excerpt, Richardson states that "the Satyricon provides one of the most comprehensive accounts of homosexual activity in Roman times," stressing that Petronius used homosexual elements in his writing for their comic possibilities and that he did not view homosexuality as perverse.

In the following essay, Sullivan discusses Petronius's wide range of humor, including the humor of incongruity, literary humor, farce, mime situations, verbal wit, and satiric dialogue.

In the following essay, Gill takes issue with J. P. Sullivan's (see excerpt dated 1961) psychoanalytic reading of the sexual scenes in the Satyricon, advocating instead a literary approach which views them in terms of their function of stressing the bizarre and the shocking.

In the following excerpt, Allen examines some of Petronius's poetry, explaining how it breaks with Roman tradition and why some critics have scorned it.

In the following essay, Slater contends that it is the content and occasion of language more than its form that results in the sense of individual characterizations in the Satyricon.

In the following excerpt, Abbott searches in other genres—including the epic, the serious heroic romance, the mime, and the prologue of comedy-for elements that could have influenced Petronius's composition of the first known realistic romance.

In the following essay, Preston examines some of the techniques and devices used by Petronius for comic effect, including surprise, buffoonery, intoxication, and the continual introduction of new characters.

In the following essay, Abbott provides background on Petronius's time, credits him with being the creator of the novel, and praises him for the modernity of his realism, particularly with regard to characterization.

In the following excerpt, Grube outlines Petronius's thoughts on poetry, particularly his attack on declamations and his assessment that the arts had reached a degenerated state in Rome.

In the following essay, Abbott explains how Petronius expresses both the individuality and culture level of his characters through their vocabulary, colloquialisms, pronunciation, word-formation, and inflectional forms.

In the following essay, Musurillo examines Petronius's use of dream symbolism in his poetry and describes how it works on more than one level.