The Feast of Trimalchio

In «Satyricon», the work of the great wit and melancholic lyric poet of Nero s reign, Gaius Petronius Arbiter, the most celebrated part is «The Feast of Trimalchio» (Cena Trimalchionis). Thanks to Petronius s fantasy, Trimalchio s name has become synonymous with wealth, luxury, gluttony and unbridled pleasure. The decadence described so masterfully, of course, by Petronius contrasts with the brevity of human existence. We searched for an analog in the third millennium and Trimalchio, the former slave, the nouveau riche host of feasts lasting several days, appeared to us not so much as an individual but as a collective image of a luxurious hotel, a temporary paradise which one has to pay to enter. The hotel guests, the «masters», are from the land of the Golden Billion. They are keen to spend their time, regardless of the season, as guests of the present-day Trimalchio, who has created the most exotic and luxurious hotel possible. The hotel miraculously combines a tropical coastline with a ski resort. The «masters» wear white which calls to mind the uniform of the righteous in the Garden of Eden, or traditional colonial dress, or a summer fashion collection. The «masters» possess all of the characteristics of the human race – they are all ages and types and from all social backgrounds. Here is the university professor, the stockbroker, the society beauty, and the intellectual. Trimalchio s «servants» are young, attractive representatives of all continents who work in the vast hospitality industry as housekeeping staff, waiters, chefs, gardeners, security guards and masseurs. They are dressed in traditional uniforms with an ethnic twist. The «servants» resemble the brightly colored angels of a Garden of Eden to which the «masters» are only temporarily admitted. On one hand the atmosphere of «The Feast of Trimalchio» can be seen as bringing together the hotel rituals of leisure and pleasure (massage and golf, the pool and surfing). On the other, the «servants» are more than attentive service-providers. They are participants in an orgy, bringing to life any fantasy of the «masters», from gastronomic to erotic. At times the «masters» unexpectedly end up in the role of «servants». Both become participants in an orgiastic gala reception, a dinner in the style of Roman saturnalia when slaves, dressed as patricians, recline at table and their masters, dressed in slaves tunics, serve them. Ultimately, the delights of «The Feast of Trimalchio» are spoiled by catastrophes, which encroach on the Global Paradise.