The Golden Ass

Apuleius' The Golden Ass, or Metamorphoses, is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety. Composed in the second century, this picaresque work tells the tale of Lucius, a man whose curiosity in magic and indulgence of sexual pleasures leads him to accidently transform himself into an ass. What follows are the various trials and hardships he endures as well as the tales he hears throughout his travels. It is not until the intervention of the goddess Isis that Lucius is transformed back into a man, and he devotes the rest of his life to her cult. Apuleius' storytelling is lively, witty, an often sexually explicit. Indeed, many forms of fetish are showcased within the pages, including beastiality. More often than not, the novel indulges readers in their guilty curiosities while also providing hilarious and adventurous prose, with a splash of red-streaked violence thrown in for good measure. However, despite being written nearly two-thousand years ago, what may shock the modern reader most is how approachable and familiar is not only the humor but also the sentiments and sensuality of these Roman characters. It is not difficult to imagine Lucius' world. The Golden Ass offers readers a romp through ancient Rome through the eyes of a contemporary while also entertaining. It is also a highly revealing documentation of religion and magical belief in Greco-Roman polytheism, and contains the only complete description of the initiation into a Mystery cult. The true essence of the novel is that it is a fable culminating in the religious transformation of the individual and the embrace of salvation (soteria). However, the pagan salvation was not one of the afterlife, but of this life, and involved changing one's perspective of the world and also of life and death. The ass in the ancient world was seen as the most base of animals, an utter slave to its desires, and Lucius' transformation at the end should be read as symbolizing his overcoming of those passions. The Golden Ass is bawdy and shocking, but also intelligent and satisfying. Graves' translation is fluid and easy to follow. The prose is as enjoyable (and perhaps rewarding) to read today as it no doubt was nearly two-millennia ago.

Lucius Apuleius was one of the main representatives of North African Platonism during the second century (AD). He wrote works ranging from philosophy and medicine to poetry and rhetoric. Apuleius is best known for his remarkable collection of tales, The Golden Ass or Transformations. It is a playful satire containing the use of many different genres, much like one would find in the Mennepian satires of Petronius, Seneca, Fulgentius, or Macrobius. It is a complex and enthralling work in which interpretation is always open-ended. Apuleius' use of allegory, his exceptional talent for imagery, and his rhythmic and often poetic prose, make this text a challenge and a joy to read at the same time. The Golden Ass is definitely a masterpiece of Latin literature and can also argue of being the world's first novel.

Apuleius' great work is not read enough. As the story of an libertine who is unfortunately changed into an ass unfolds, we see a satire unfold that provides both entertainment and a biting commentary of life in the ancient Greco-Roman world. The book shows you the great distance between us moderns and the ancients, but what is likely to surprise you the most is precisely the opposite: those ways in which we are so similar.

I read The Golden Ass for a Classic art course I took while at university I loved it! It is fun, entertaining and comical- not your typical dry Roman read. It is a great story and a great look into history.I highly recommend this tale to anyone who not wants to laugh but is interested in an important text from antiquity.

I've read another translation which gives no sense of the humor in this most amusing, and sometimes ribald tale of a man's transformation (literally and figuratively) from man to animal. Dabbling in occult matters, the young man is tranformed into an ass. He recounts the many adventures that he has while in this state, from circus performer to beast of burden where he hears the story of Cupid and Psyche (the most extant version we have.) Eventually our hero is returned to a manly state (I don't want to give too much away) with the help of a mysterious female figure.