Apuleius
Author of The Golden Ass
About the Author
Apuleius, of African birth, was educated in Carthage and Athens. His most famous work, The Golden Ass (c.150), is the tale of a young philosopher who transformed himself not into a bird as he had expected, but into an ass. After many adventures he was rescued by the goddess Isis. The episode of show more "Cupid and Psyche," told with consummate grace, is the most celebrated section. This romance of the declining Empire influenced the novels of Boccaccio, Cervantes, Fielding (see Vol. 1), and Smollett (see Vol. 1); Heywood used the theme for a drama and William Morris (see Vol. 1) used some of the material in The Earthly Paradise. Robert Graves's "translation abandons the aureate Latinity of Apuleius for a dry, sharp, plain style---which is itself a small masterpiece of twentieth-century prose" (Kenneth Rexroth, SR SR). The new translation by John Arthur Hanson is authoritative. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Restoration of a late antique ceiling painting, c. 330, possibly depicting Apuleius. Bischöfliches Museum (Bishop's Museum), Trier. Photographer unknown. Wikimedia Commons.
Works by Apuleius
Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass), I: Books 1-6 (Loeb Classical Library No. 44N) (1996) 189 copies, 5 reviews
Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass), Volume II, Books 7-11 (Loeb Classical Library No. 453) (0170) 141 copies, 6 reviews
Apuleius: Metamorphoses: An Intermediate Latin Reader (Cambridge Intermediate Latin Readers) (2009) 17 copies
The Works of Apuleius: Comprising the Metamorphoses, or Golden Ass, the God of Socrates, the Florida, and His Defence, or a Discourse on Magic (2010) 10 copies
Opera Quae Supersunt, Vol. III: De Philosophia Libri (Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana) (1991) 6 copies
Delphi Complete Works of Apuleius with the Golden Ass (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 43) (2015) 4 copies
A New Work by Apuleius: The Lost Third Book of the De Platone: Edited and Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by (2016) 4 copies
Pronkpassages 4 copies
Apuleius Madaurensis Metamorphoses, Books Iv, 1-27: Text, Introduction and Commentary (Groningen Commentaries on Apuleius Series) (1977) 3 copies
Apulei Opera Philosophica / Apuleius Philosophical Works (Oxford Classical Texts) (Latin and Greek Edition) (2020) 3 copies
Apologia (De Magia) Vol. 2 Fasc. 1 2 copies
Der goldene Esel 2 copies
Le metamorfosi-Sulla magia 2 copies
The Golden Ass (Metamorphoses) 2 copies
Opera (Edited by Julianus Floridus) 2 copies
Apulée. Les Métamorphoses : . Tome I Livres I-III. Texte établi par D. S. Robertson,... et traduit par Paul Vallette, (1956) 2 copies
Metamorphosen 2 copies
De deo Socratis liber singularis 2 copies
The Golden Asse of Apuleius. Done into English by William Adlington with an Introduction by Thomas Seccombe. (1913) 1 copy
Măgarul de Aur 1 copy
Les Metamorfosi, II 1 copy
Апология, или речь в защиту самого себя от обвинения в магии ; Метаморфозы : в ХІ книгах ; Флориды 1 copy
The Very Pleasant & Delectable Tale of Cupid And Psyche translated from the Latin Of Lucius Apuleius 1 copy
0 ASNO DE OURO 1 copy
Les metamorfosis, vol. 1 1 copy
Es asno de oro 1 copy
CUPIDO 1 copy
La batalla del amor contra el deseo: Tres aproximaciones al mito de Eros y Psique (Ensayo) (Spanish Edition) (2014) 1 copy
Det gyldne sel 1 copy
Les metamorfosis, vol. 2 1 copy
Zlatni magarac 1 copy
Les metamorfosis 1 y 2 1 copy
Les metamorfosis Volum I 1 copy
L'amante du faune 1 copy
Amor a Psycha 1 copy
L'asino d'oro, vol. I 1 copy
L'asino d'oro, vol. II 1 copy
Apulei Platonici Madaurensis Metamorphoseon Libri XI [Metamorphosen = Der goldene Esel] (1912) 1 copy
Psyche et Cupido 1 copy
Opera 1 copy
Psyches & Cupidinis Fabula ex Apulei Madaurensis libro in usum scholarum narrata a Susanna Bails (1901) 1 copy
Le trasformazioni 1 copy
Apulée 1 copy
Metamorfosi: asino d'oro 1 copy
The metamorphosis of golden ass and philosophical works of Apuleius : translated from the original Latin by Thomas Taylor (1992) 1 copy
Cupid and Psyche, etc 1 copy
Metamorfosi - Sulla magia 1 copy
Contes fantastiques 1 copy
Psyches et Cupidinis : Fabula ex Apulei Madaurensis libro in usum scholarum narrata a Susanna Bails (1965) 1 copy
Metamorphoseis 1 copy
Della Magia 1 copy
Le metamorfosi. Volume 1 1 copy
L'asino d'oro La magia 1 copy
Oeuvres completes d'Apulée 1 copy
Apuleius: Amor und Psyche. Musaios: Hero und Leander. Urtext mit Übertragung von Herbert Ronge. 1 copy
Metamorphosen oder der Goldene Esel (Schriften und Quellen der alten Welt, 1) (German Edition) (1957) 1 copy
Apuleius of Madauros, Pro Se De Magia (Apologia), Edited with a Commentary: Vol. II, Commentary 1 copy
Five Works by Apuleius: Apologia, de Deo Socratis, de Dogmate Platonis, Florida: Latin Text (Latin Edition) (2016) 1 copy
o asno de ouro 1 copy
Custos cadaveris 1 copy
Nowele Rzymskie — Contributor — 1 copy
Associated Works
Spells of Enchantment: The Wondrous Fairy Tales of Western Culture (1991) — Contributor — 605 copies, 5 reviews
The Dedalus Book of Roman Decadence: Emperors of Debauchery (Decadence from Dedalus) (1994) — Contributor — 53 copies
Masters of Roman prose from Cato to Apuleius : interpretative studies (1983) — Contributor — 26 copies
Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories: French, Italian, Spanish and Latin (2009) — Contributor — 18 copies
Latijnse varia : bloemlezing uit de werken van een tiental Latijnse dichters en prozaschrijvers (1954) — Contributor — 4 copies
Piirakkasota; valikoima huumoria — Contributor — 3 copies
Erzählungen der Antike 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Apuleio, Lucio
Apuleio
Lucius Apuleius
Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis - Birthdate
- 0125 CE (circa)
- Date of death
- 0180 CE (circa)
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- Teacher of philosophy and rhetoric
- Short biography
- Apuleo aŭ Apulejo - latine Apuleius, naskiĝis ĉirkaŭ 125, mortis en 164 - estis romana filozofo kaj verkisto de satiroj. Li naskiĝis en urbo Madaŭro, en Numidio (hodiaŭe Alĝerio), kaj estis grava personaĵo de sia epoka pri platona literaturo, retoriko kaj filozofio.
Li estis edukita en Kartago kaj Ateno, kaj vojaĝis tra Mediteraneo, studante ritojn de inico kaj kultojn. Li bone konis la grekajn kaj latinajn verkistojn, li instruis retorikon en Romo antaŭ reveni al Afriko kie li edziĝis al riĉa vidvino.
Li mortis en Kartago (hodiaŭe Tunizio).
Verkoj :
Opera omnia, 1621
Pro opozicio de edzina familio li verkis Apologion (173), specon de autobiografio. Li verkis ankaŭ multajn malsamajn poemojn kaj trataktojn, el tiuj Floridan, koletaneon de elokvenciaj verkoj, sed lia plej konata verko estas "La Ora Azeno", prozaĵo en 11 libroj kiun komence li nomis "Metamorfozoj". Ĝi estas la aventuroj de junulo Lucio, kiu estis transformita per magio en azenon kaj kiu nur reiĝis al homa formo per interveno de Izisa, al kies servo li konsakriĝis. La epizodo plej grava de tiu verko, la nura romanco el Antikveco kiu alvenis al nia erao, estas la bela fabelo pri Eroso kaj Psiĥa, kiun oni povas interpreti kiel alegorion je mistika unio. - Nationality
- Roman Empire
- Birthplace
- Madauros, Numidia, Roman Empire
- Places of residence
- Madaura, North Africa
Carthage, North Africa
Athens, Greece
Numidia, Roman Empire - Map Location
- Algeria
Members
Reviews
Although the vulgar take the donkey as a symbol of ignorance and stupidity, occultists and magicians know better. Cornelius Agrippa, in his Vanity of the Arts and Sciences, praises the ass as a paradigm of virtue. Giordano Bruno, whose heliocentrism was wedded to his hermetic magic, made the donkey a symbol of the highest mystical state in his personal cabala, declaring it to be the Triumphant Beast.
The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, better known as The Golden Ass, is funny and wise; and show more despite its unrepentant status as a fiction, its later chapters are probably one of the most accurate and detailed accounts from the period regarding the operation of mystery cults in late antiquity. The "Golden" of the title refers to the value of the text. It was written in a florid, storytelling style of Latin, and has a brisk, episodic pace. There are nonetheless many digressions, including the splendid and famous fable of Eros and Psyche, which falls near the center of the text.
Known in his own day as an orator and Platonist philosopher, Apuleius is also important as a reference regarding the status of magic in the ancient world; he was himself accused of criminal sorcery, although he denied it. The central enchantment of the story is the transformation of the protagonist into a donkey.
The literary progeny of these Metamorphoses are countless, as befits a donkey's instrument! Apuleius' story has influenced everything from Augustine's Confessions to Beauty and the Beast. But the original still deserves pride of place. show less
The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, better known as The Golden Ass, is funny and wise; and show more despite its unrepentant status as a fiction, its later chapters are probably one of the most accurate and detailed accounts from the period regarding the operation of mystery cults in late antiquity. The "Golden" of the title refers to the value of the text. It was written in a florid, storytelling style of Latin, and has a brisk, episodic pace. There are nonetheless many digressions, including the splendid and famous fable of Eros and Psyche, which falls near the center of the text.
Known in his own day as an orator and Platonist philosopher, Apuleius is also important as a reference regarding the status of magic in the ancient world; he was himself accused of criminal sorcery, although he denied it. The central enchantment of the story is the transformation of the protagonist into a donkey.
The literary progeny of these Metamorphoses are countless, as befits a donkey's instrument! Apuleius' story has influenced everything from Augustine's Confessions to Beauty and the Beast. But the original still deserves pride of place. show less
The Golden Ass often gets described as the only complete Ancient novel in Latin, but it’s more of a collection of stories, myths and anecdotes held together by a thin framing device. The plot is well-known: a well-off Roman Citizen in Greece messes around with black magic and gets transformed into a donkey. Cue a picaresque series of owners as he gets bought, sold, stolen and adopted by ambitious robbers, effeminate priests, greedy millers, cruel boys, and lusty upper class women. Each show more owner has comedic things happening to them and plenty of bawdy anecdotes and tall tales to tell -- or they know people who do. It’s all rather flimsily tied together, but the cohesion, of course, is much less important than the accumulation of humorous stories.
Although several of the episodes in Lucius' life as a donkey and the anecdotes he overhears are genuinely funny, much of the humour is of the slapstick-meets-satire kind, which is not really up my street, and stereotypes and black-and-white morality reign, which I'm not too keen on, either.
But that is not to say The Golden Ass isn't a great deal of fun to read; it is, albeit not in the way that it was originally intended: many of the things I liked (apart from the ribaldry) are things I doubt were meant as such by the author.
For one thing, I liked the openly appreciative attitude towards sexuality: sex, not as a foul practice to be ashamed of, but as something that people willingly admit to doing frequently. Another thing I found fascinating is the snippets of daily life casually mentioned as part of the background: how streets were lighted at night, how towns were planned, and how various tradespeople ran their businesses. All of these were glimpses into a fully functional civilization whose everyday life and whose bureaucracy I know very little about. I was also intrigued by how violent a place the Empire seems to have been to live in: corporal punishment is standard practice, and brutal attacks on and indifferent cruelty towards slaves, animals, women and non-citizens is presented as normal. Morality, as it appears in this book, serves to further a fundamental double standard: one standard for the male citizen (wealthy and good-looking), and another for everyone and everything else. These, and other parts of the “world building” in this book, were what almost interested me more than the actual story.
In all, The Golden Ass is quite entertaining as a book of bawdiness and mild satire, though I couldn't help but view it as anything but an 1800-year old book, and enjoyed it primarily as such. show less
Although several of the episodes in Lucius' life as a donkey and the anecdotes he overhears are genuinely funny, much of the humour is of the slapstick-meets-satire kind, which is not really up my street, and stereotypes and black-and-white morality reign, which I'm not too keen on, either.
But that is not to say The Golden Ass isn't a great deal of fun to read; it is, albeit not in the way that it was originally intended: many of the things I liked (apart from the ribaldry) are things I doubt were meant as such by the author.
For one thing, I liked the openly appreciative attitude towards sexuality: sex, not as a foul practice to be ashamed of, but as something that people willingly admit to doing frequently. Another thing I found fascinating is the snippets of daily life casually mentioned as part of the background: how streets were lighted at night, how towns were planned, and how various tradespeople ran their businesses. All of these were glimpses into a fully functional civilization whose everyday life and whose bureaucracy I know very little about. I was also intrigued by how violent a place the Empire seems to have been to live in: corporal punishment is standard practice, and brutal attacks on and indifferent cruelty towards slaves, animals, women and non-citizens is presented as normal. Morality, as it appears in this book, serves to further a fundamental double standard: one standard for the male citizen (wealthy and good-looking), and another for everyone and everything else. These, and other parts of the “world building” in this book, were what almost interested me more than the actual story.
In all, The Golden Ass is quite entertaining as a book of bawdiness and mild satire, though I couldn't help but view it as anything but an 1800-year old book, and enjoyed it primarily as such. show less
The earliest Latin-language novel to survive in its entirety, The Golden Ass tells the story of Lucius, a young man who gets turned into a donkey and has a series of unfortunate adventures. "Bawdy, sexist farce" isn't really my speed when it comes to humour, so I found this a bit of a slog to get through. Sarah Ruden's translation didn't help much. Intellectually, I understand why she was aiming for an inconsistent tonal register and deliberate high-low juxtapositions in ways that were show more trying to evoke P.G. Wodehouse and the Flashman novels and to better reflect the cadences of the original Latin. But God, it made for a lumpy, jarring read—there's no deftness to Ruden's choices. I definitely wouldn't have thought she was trying for something Wodehousian if I hadn't read the translator's preface. I made it to the end more out of determination to check this off a list of "should reads" than anything else. show less
Cupid and Psyche is an extract from The Golden Ass by Apleius featuring three stories from that compilation including Cupid and Psyche as well as two chapters from the main story. Cupid is the 12th book in the Pengiun Epics series and is easily the most beautiful. The romance of Psyche and her relationship with Cupid is tender and endearing. Compared with the other Epics, this is a tale with emotion and a sense of genuine feeling between two people. It is a narrative that stands up well show more compared to modern literature and is an absolutely excellent ancient text. The two chapters of Golden Ass are funny and irreverent. They show a wit and sense of the dramatic centuries ahead of writings of its time.
The Penguin Epics version of Cupid and Psyche is translated by E.J. Kenney who does a tremendous job in turning the original Latin into a flowing and easy read that reflects the beauty of the original. The work contains a very short note referring to The Golden Ass and the context these extracts sit within. The note does not add much value. However, Cupid and Psyche is a work that speaks for itself in its magnificence.
The first of the three tales is the story of Psyche and her love for Cupid. It begins very much in the tradition of the literature of aniquity. The jealous god Venus despises the beautiful Psyche because Venus hates the idea that others might turn heads and distract attention away from her. As a vengeful god, she imposes wrathful vengeance on the innocent Psyche at a whim. This is completely in step with the Latin and Greek narrative style, the vagaries and cruely of life being reflected in the gods who treat humans scornfully.
It does not take long though for this particular narrative to transcend those that came before. The relationship that develops between Psyche and Cupid is a wonderful romance. Cupid forbids Psyche from gazing upon him, creating an uncertainty in her despite the strong feelings she holds for the man she does not know is Cupid. That lack of finality adds a layer of tension to the relationship and makes it feel more passionate and intense.
Psyche is a lovingly drawn character. She is kind and giving, not letting her own internal doubts stand in the way of yielding to the pleasures of the bonds of mutual love. Still, she cannot resist giving in to temptation and eventually is pushed by her calculating sisters into gazing upon Cupid, injuring him in the process. From the height of a fantastic life filled with delights she is cast into suffering again by Venus.
Again though, Apuleius takes his narrative beyond anything that has come before. This time it is through Cupid. The winged cherub is no longer the mischievous child of earlier works. Under the pen of Apuleius Cupid has grown up. He stands up to his mother and instead of inflicting great pain on a human for the tiniest of slights as is often the classic in the literature of antiquity, Cupid reaches out to Psyche and bring her to a reasurringly happy ending with him. The reciprocation of love from Cupid to Psyche is a great treasure and brings this great short story to a beautiful conclusion.
Had the extract in this work only been Cupid and Psyche it would have been a five star work. The narrative flows effortlessly and the characters are so easy to engage with. The story is more sophisticated than most from antiquity and it features a seemingly genuine emotional bond between its principal cast members. The Penguin Epics edition also contains two other tales and these are written in an entirely different style. For Apuleius to have been a master of the style from his Cupid story is mightly impressive but for the other tales to be written in an altogether different style is awe-inspiring.
The two chapters from The Golden Ass are full of wit, banter, and irreverence. They are not at all like the light-touch elegance of Cupid and Psyche. The lead character Lucius relates a couple of stories from a journey featuring well known real people and places, treating the great with a satirical humour and developing an incredibly early venture into the surreal.
The first of the two pieces from The Golden Ass is Aristomenes Tale and features an interaction with Socrates. It is a re-imagined Socrates who did not die from the hemlock and who instead had found himself trapped by a witch. Socrates banters with the narrator and the pair exchange bawdy language and attempts to escape from their captivity. It is a ribald tale and seemingly heavily alcohol fuelled. The imagination of the narrator stretches but never breaks the disbelief of the audience. Cleverly, that audience is both the reader and other characters in the book. Those other characters occasionally test the credibility of the narrator which only adds to the desire to be on his side.
The first of the pieces ends with the other characters disagreeing as to whether that particular narrator spoke truth. The reader can easily discern that the alcoholic revelry most likely led to some of the outcomes the narrator believed to have happened. This gives the reader the sense of insider knowledge and makes the bizarre happenings of the tale all the more enjoyable.
The second piece is part of the longer tale of Lucius. In extract form it does not fully do justice to that tale and is instead an introduction to the fuller work. Lucius heads to the home of a wealthy potentate but is more interested in the women of that home. He wishes to learn from Milo the witch and engages his lust with the slave girl Photis. As part of a longer narrative, it is a more typical story than the other two parts of this work. The stand-out moment though takes place with the witches who seek to cut off the features of the dead. The moment when the reality of what happened during a night of vigilence has the makings of an excellent ghost story.
The three stories presented in this work are all very different. The utterly dazzling Cupid and Psyche is truly beautiful. The laugh out loud funny Aristomedes Tale is a descent into the almost surreal surrounds of the imagination. The start of the story of Lucius tempts the reader to find out more from the full work. Of the narrative works in the Penguin Epics collection, this one is hard to equal. Apuleius is one of the great treasures of antiquity. show less
The Penguin Epics version of Cupid and Psyche is translated by E.J. Kenney who does a tremendous job in turning the original Latin into a flowing and easy read that reflects the beauty of the original. The work contains a very short note referring to The Golden Ass and the context these extracts sit within. The note does not add much value. However, Cupid and Psyche is a work that speaks for itself in its magnificence.
The first of the three tales is the story of Psyche and her love for Cupid. It begins very much in the tradition of the literature of aniquity. The jealous god Venus despises the beautiful Psyche because Venus hates the idea that others might turn heads and distract attention away from her. As a vengeful god, she imposes wrathful vengeance on the innocent Psyche at a whim. This is completely in step with the Latin and Greek narrative style, the vagaries and cruely of life being reflected in the gods who treat humans scornfully.
It does not take long though for this particular narrative to transcend those that came before. The relationship that develops between Psyche and Cupid is a wonderful romance. Cupid forbids Psyche from gazing upon him, creating an uncertainty in her despite the strong feelings she holds for the man she does not know is Cupid. That lack of finality adds a layer of tension to the relationship and makes it feel more passionate and intense.
Psyche is a lovingly drawn character. She is kind and giving, not letting her own internal doubts stand in the way of yielding to the pleasures of the bonds of mutual love. Still, she cannot resist giving in to temptation and eventually is pushed by her calculating sisters into gazing upon Cupid, injuring him in the process. From the height of a fantastic life filled with delights she is cast into suffering again by Venus.
Again though, Apuleius takes his narrative beyond anything that has come before. This time it is through Cupid. The winged cherub is no longer the mischievous child of earlier works. Under the pen of Apuleius Cupid has grown up. He stands up to his mother and instead of inflicting great pain on a human for the tiniest of slights as is often the classic in the literature of antiquity, Cupid reaches out to Psyche and bring her to a reasurringly happy ending with him. The reciprocation of love from Cupid to Psyche is a great treasure and brings this great short story to a beautiful conclusion.
Had the extract in this work only been Cupid and Psyche it would have been a five star work. The narrative flows effortlessly and the characters are so easy to engage with. The story is more sophisticated than most from antiquity and it features a seemingly genuine emotional bond between its principal cast members. The Penguin Epics edition also contains two other tales and these are written in an entirely different style. For Apuleius to have been a master of the style from his Cupid story is mightly impressive but for the other tales to be written in an altogether different style is awe-inspiring.
The two chapters from The Golden Ass are full of wit, banter, and irreverence. They are not at all like the light-touch elegance of Cupid and Psyche. The lead character Lucius relates a couple of stories from a journey featuring well known real people and places, treating the great with a satirical humour and developing an incredibly early venture into the surreal.
The first of the two pieces from The Golden Ass is Aristomenes Tale and features an interaction with Socrates. It is a re-imagined Socrates who did not die from the hemlock and who instead had found himself trapped by a witch. Socrates banters with the narrator and the pair exchange bawdy language and attempts to escape from their captivity. It is a ribald tale and seemingly heavily alcohol fuelled. The imagination of the narrator stretches but never breaks the disbelief of the audience. Cleverly, that audience is both the reader and other characters in the book. Those other characters occasionally test the credibility of the narrator which only adds to the desire to be on his side.
The first of the pieces ends with the other characters disagreeing as to whether that particular narrator spoke truth. The reader can easily discern that the alcoholic revelry most likely led to some of the outcomes the narrator believed to have happened. This gives the reader the sense of insider knowledge and makes the bizarre happenings of the tale all the more enjoyable.
The second piece is part of the longer tale of Lucius. In extract form it does not fully do justice to that tale and is instead an introduction to the fuller work. Lucius heads to the home of a wealthy potentate but is more interested in the women of that home. He wishes to learn from Milo the witch and engages his lust with the slave girl Photis. As part of a longer narrative, it is a more typical story than the other two parts of this work. The stand-out moment though takes place with the witches who seek to cut off the features of the dead. The moment when the reality of what happened during a night of vigilence has the makings of an excellent ghost story.
The three stories presented in this work are all very different. The utterly dazzling Cupid and Psyche is truly beautiful. The laugh out loud funny Aristomedes Tale is a descent into the almost surreal surrounds of the imagination. The start of the story of Lucius tempts the reader to find out more from the full work. Of the narrative works in the Penguin Epics collection, this one is hard to equal. Apuleius is one of the great treasures of antiquity. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 203
- Also by
- 28
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- 7,254
- Popularity
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- Rating
- 3.9
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