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.p Besides the occasion for the poem and its artificial foreshortening, another telling feature is the reaction of \f8Eumolpus' audience\f6 to what he recites. Encolpius seems relieved at the rather matter-of-fact ending Eumolpus makes to the poem. He hints at the suffering he has endured when he straightaway says: \f7cum haec Eumolpos ingenti uolubilitate uerborum effudisset, tandem Crotona intrauimus\f6 (124.2). The comment betrays boredom, but for this poet such an accusation is nothing: he is used to much harsher treatments (90.5), such as being pelted with rocks at the \f7pinacotheca\f6 (90.1) or being expelled from the baths (92.6). Eumolpus presumably would not even register Encolpius' indifferent reaction to his poem: part of his characterization is that he versifies compulsively, and in spite of the lack of respect it earns him. In fact, in light of the first chapter of the present work, which found significant merit in the \f7Bellum Ciuile\f6, Encolpius' comment says more about him than it does about the poem's author. .p What Encolpius' says when Eumolpus stops reciting reflects the fact that the journey to Croton and the poem recited on that journey are really one and the same: when one ends so does the other, and, in the narrator's opinion, one is as tedious as the other. Encolpius has nothing to say about the actual content of the poem, nor about its quality or the literary manifesto which preceded it. His reaction has as much to do with the tedium of the journey as it has with that of the poetry: if the way had only been shorter, he implies, then Eumolpus would not have been able to go on versifying so long. It seems strange that Encolpius has nothing to say about the fact that the diversion Eumolpus supplies is a poem on the Civil War. It is true that this is in keeping with the reaction to Eumolpus' poetry elsewhere: nobody in the \f7Satyricon\f6 cares what it is about, they just want it to stop. But the \f7Bellum Ciuile\f6 appears on a much grander scale than any other poem in the \f7Satyricon\f6, and its historical-political content is likewise unique. It seems that if any poem's content should merit at least some comment, it is this one. But of all the reactions to the poetry which Eumolpus spouts, the reaction to the \f7Bellum Ciuile\f6 is by far the tamest. Is this out of recognition of its relative merits? or does it simply indicate that Encolpius does not care about the poetry of Eumolpus? .p .ne 12 The narrator's attitude towards the poet-character is not at all straightforward. He certainly seems to have more tolerance for Eumolpus than the general public does. His first impression of the old man is that he ``promises something of greatness'' (\f7uideretur nescio quid magnum promittere\f6), and even before he speaks he easily identifies him as the sort of literary man whom rich men ``love to hate'' (\f7facile appareret eum ex hac nota litteratum esse quos odisse divites solent\f6, 83.7). Encolpius displays an automatic interest in the poet partly because Eumolpus is older and wiser than him, and partly because it is his wont to expect great things of new acquaintances. In general, Encolpius seems happy to ``go with the flow'': there is indeed a ``lack or holding back of explicit comment and outright judgement on the narrator's part'';\c .f "Beck (1979) 241." he is often a very passive observer. He seems to identify with Eumolpus because he is a man of letters. Encolpius, too, is literate: in the opening scene he shows himself to be a clever student (\f7quoniam sermonem habes non publici saporis et, quod rarissimum est, amas bonam mentem\f6, Agamemnon tells him, 3.1); in the final episode he makes a sly literary gesture by taking the name Polyaenus, an epithet of Odysseus, for his pseudonym in Croton; and his sotadean verse at 132.8 is an hilarious Vergilian pastiche. As the narrator of the \f7Satyricon\f6 he is also a poet: the poet \f7of\f6 the narrative as opposed to Eumolpus, the poet \f7in\f6 the narrative.\c .f "Edmunds (2009) 96." In this sense he is somewhat threatened by his poetic rival; indeed, at one point he may admit as much, though fragmentation makes the context unclear: .bl \f7me nihil magis pungebat quam ne Eumolpus sensisset quicquid illud fuerat et homo dicacissimus carminibus vindicaret.\f6 (113.12) .ck But other than here Encolpius never expresses more than a mild discomfort or embarrassment at Eumolpus' versifying. After he sees the results of the recitation of the \f7Troiae Halosis\f6, he threatens to also throw rocks at the poet (90.4), but this is only out of concern for the old man, whose behaviour he recognizes as a disease (\f7quid tibi uis cum isto morbo?\f6 90.3). Encolpius only chastises his new companion out of fear that he himself will also be thought a poet and so share in his abuse (\f7timui ego ne me poetam vocaret\f6, 90.2; cf. 93.3). If there is anyone who does not appreciate Eumolpus' poetry, then, it is not Encolpius but the general public. Indeed, it is perhaps a damning comment on the latter that they react to poetry so violently, for it is not specifically Eumolpus' poetry that they hate; all it takes to attract the ire of the mob is the mere whiff of a poet: \f7nam si aliquis ex is qui in eodem synoecio potant nomen poetae olfecerit, totam concitabit viciniam et nos omnes sub eadem causa obruet\f6 (93.3). With the absurd exception of Bargates, who hails him, \f7o poetarum … disertissime!\f6 (96.6), none of the characters in the \f7Satyricon\f6 openly admires Eumolpus. Most abuse him; Encolpius barely tolerates him. It is possible that the lukewarm reception of the \f7Bellum Ciuile\f6 is intended to confirm the merits of that poem, by contrast with the violent reaction Eumolpus' poetry usually provokes; more likely, though, is that it is a reflection of the fact that his essentially captive audience is the best he can hope for. .p As for the other members of that audience, Giton and Corax, they have nothing to say about Eumolpus' effort whatever. The light-hearted scene, reminiscent of Old Comedy,\c .f "Schmeling (2011) \f7ad loc.\f6" where they trade fart for fart (117.12) provides a neat contrast to the seriousness with which Eumolpus sets out his literary principles and recites the poem. Giton is one of the only characters who is prominent in the narrative but does not speak in verse.\c .f "Edmunds (2009) 78." Even if he is actually a slave, his blissful ignorance of literary matters puts him far ahead of the ex-slave Trimalchio, who is eager to show off his learning but embarrasses himself by his obvious lack of any. Just as Eumolpus is about to solemnly begin his \f7Bellum Ciuile\f6, to which Encolpius will listen half-seriously, and which a careful reader may actually appreciate, Petronius reminds one through the innocence of Giton and Corax that all it takes is two steps back to see literary pursuits as quite ridiculous.