protomattr reviewed The Golden Ass by Apuleius
Review of 'The Golden Ass' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Appearances can be deceiving. The alternate, or original, title to The Golden Ass, Metamorphoses, is perhaps a better title for this novel written over eighteen centuries ago, by a North African Roman citizen apparently fascinated with Greek culture and Egyptian cults. The main thread is about a man named Lucius, whose curiosity about witchcraft leads to his accidental transformation into an ass. As he sets out on a desperate quest to eat roses as the antidote to the metamorphosis, subject to the whims and cruelty of his human masters, he hears tales of deception, misfortune, and happy reunions, such as the longest such story in the novel about Cupid and Psyche. These periodic insertions of stories certainly influenced Cervantes and others. Lucius' salvation by the Egyptian goddess Isis and her cult is arguably a dea ex machina, but it is so well described and may be one of the more …
Appearances can be deceiving. The alternate, or original, title to The Golden Ass, Metamorphoses, is perhaps a better title for this novel written over eighteen centuries ago, by a North African Roman citizen apparently fascinated with Greek culture and Egyptian cults. The main thread is about a man named Lucius, whose curiosity about witchcraft leads to his accidental transformation into an ass. As he sets out on a desperate quest to eat roses as the antidote to the metamorphosis, subject to the whims and cruelty of his human masters, he hears tales of deception, misfortune, and happy reunions, such as the longest such story in the novel about Cupid and Psyche. These periodic insertions of stories certainly influenced Cervantes and others. Lucius' salvation by the Egyptian goddess Isis and her cult is arguably a dea ex machina, but it is so well described and may be one of the more memorable parts of the novel. Well worth reading, and re-reading.
