The main cause of my confusion while watching Fellini's Satyricon is the fragmented nature of the movie. Encolpius embarks on a rapid series of episodic adventures, from attending Trimalchio's dinner party to being married on board a slave ship to kidnapping Hermaphrodite to being chased by a mintoaur impersonater to losing and regaining his manhood. The fact that the scenes switch rapidly, and often without warning, made me question how coherent Petronius' original novel could be.
I later researched the story and found that the original text of Satyricon survives only in pieces, and that rather than attempting to fill in the gaps, Fellini chose to present the movie in a disjointed fashion as a view on the nature of history. While it doesn't help make the movie any clearer, it does explain the unique style of production.
I also was able to find W. C. Firebaugh's translation of the Satyricon as an ebook, complete with illustrations for each chapter. The text can be found at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5225/5225-h/5225-h.htm
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