Saturae Menippeae

The Saturae Menippeae were a series of works by the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro in the 1st century BCE. This genre, known as Menippean satire, was developed by the Greek satirist Menippus of Gadara.12

Menippean satire is a seriocomic literary genre that criticizes contemporary ideas and institutions in a mocking style, blending prose and verse. These works often featured unusual settings, such as a descent into Hades, and covered a wide range of subjects from eating and drinking to literature and philosophy. Varro used this form to express his views on modern follies and advocate for traditional Roman virtues. The Saturae Menippeae influenced later Latin satire and works like Petronius's Satyricon.21