The Golden Ass

Lucius Apuleius

Aug 2021 · Phoemixx Classics Ebooks

About this ebook

The Golden Ass - Lucius Apuleius - This carefully crafted ebook: "The Golden Ass (The Metamorphoses of Apuleius)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Apuleius (c. 125-c. 180) was a student of Platonist philosophy and Latin prose writer who produced the novel "Metamorphoses", more popularly known as "The Golden Ass". This work is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety. Adapted from an earlier Greek story, "The Golden Ass" tells of the adventures of Lucius, a young man who is obsessed with magic. In attempting to perform a spell, Lucius inadvertently transforms himself into an ass. His long and arduous journey is ornately illustrated by Apuleius' witty, imaginative, and often explicit language, in a series of subplots that carry the reader through to Lucius' salvation by the goddess Isis. These include the stories of Cupid and Psyche, Aristomenes, Thelyphron and others. The novel reflects Apuleius' own fascination with magic and the occult, and although comical at times, contains very serious messages about impiety towards the gods, and the risks of tampering with the supernatural.

About the author

Apuleius (Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis Africanus; Berber: Afulay, c. 125 c. 180 CE) was a Latin-language prose writer.He was a Numidian Berber and lived under the Roman Empire. He was from Madaurus (now M'Daourouch, Algeria). He studied Platonist philosophy in Athens; travelled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt; and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the attentions (and fortune) of a wealthy widow. He declaimed and then distributed a witty tour de force in his own defense before the proconsul and a court of magistrates convened in Sabratha, near ancient Tripoli, Libya.