This book is truly amazing. A funny, cynical tale with quite a lot of theosophical symbolism. Amazing that it survived the onslaught of Christianity. For a book from the second century A.D., it's a surprisingly modern novel, incorporating lots of great short stories better than the much later Canterbury Tales. ( )

This book is truly amazing. A funny, cynical tale with quite a lot of theosophical symbolism. Amazing that it survived the onslaught of Christianity. For a book from the second century A.D., it's a surprisingly modern novel, incorporating lots of great short stories better than the much later Canterbury Tales. ( )

It was of great benefit to read Books 1-6 of Apuleius in the magnificent translation of J. Arthur Hanson. For a practicing neo-platonist, or a kin to ancient folk by heart and spirit this books conveys many trophies with plots that could easily be turned into stanzas of quotable wisdom-literature. I'm preparing myself to read the second volume alongside with Fletcher's 'Apuleius' Platonism' which is an extremely interesting support-mechanism for fully and duly understanding Master Apuleius' thought. ( )

"The Golden Ass" is the world's oldest novel, written by a Roman named Apuleius in about the year 160 C.E. Apuleius was a philosopher and author, who wrote other stories as well. The novel is about a man named Lucius (the narrator of the story) who is transformed by magic into a donkey!

It is very funny and quite bawdy at times and can be enjoyed at that level. But, it is also a story about animal cruelty and abuse. At the start of the story Lucius mentions in passing that he is related to the Greek philosopher and historian Plutarch, well known (then and now) for his biographies of famous historical figures, but he was also a staunch animal rights activist and vegetarian. This should give a hint to the tone of the book.

Lucius, who maintains his human mind but cannot speak, knows what he needs to do to return to human form (eat roses), but because of various circumstances he does not get the opportunity to do so. As a poor donkey he is captured, sold, overburdened with heavy loads, forced into labor, beaten, tortured, abused, and almost killed by various cruel and sadistic citizens and slaves. The story also shows the extreme cruelty performed on slaves, who at times are chained and forced to to work alongside Lucius the donkey in a grain mill that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He does, of course, escape the situation because after all, he did write the tale.
After the story, there are two essays, one by translator Ellen Finkelpearl and one by the editor, Peter Singer. Singer is a well-known animal rights activist and has written several books on the subject. He notes that in that time period most people did not consider it cruel to mistreat animals (or slaves sadly), but also says that in our current times we mistreat and abuse FAR more animals now than in those days, mostly due to the animal factory farms. (Singer writes that when people secretly have videotaped the mistreatment at the farms, Congress did not pass laws to protect animals, they made it a crime with serious consequences to film the mistreatment!). Singer also reminds readers that Apuleius has Lucius turns into an ass, then considered one of the lowest forms of animal life, rather than an animal like a noble eagle, a lovable dog, or a brave lion. But of course, the story would not be about abuse if he did so...
This edition of the book (from Liveright Press in 2022) is an abridgement from the original Latin, which contained several stories within the novel (including the famous "Cupid and Psyche") but are not included in this book and are not part of the story-line about Lucius anyway. This is a nice translation of the novel and is easily readable.
And make sure that you read the two essays also, they help give nice insight into the book.
( )

A collection of tales, mostly of the damages caused by adulterous and otherwise wicked women, collected together as being heard or experienced by the "author" while he was transformed into an ass. The occasional tale features brigands or lascivious man as misfortune's agent. The longest tale, Psyche's, is the exception if one excludes Venus from the company of adulterous and otherwise wicked women because she's a goddess, is rather boring as Psyche just wanders about being an utter dishrag and the very architecture tells her what to do next. ( )

Reason read: African challenge (North Africa),Reading 1001.
This is the only ancient Roman novel to survive. It is full of story of goddess/gods and mythology and very full of sexual content. Proof that there is nothing new under the sun. The narrator is changed into an ass and the story is an adventure as seen by the ass (Reminds me of Balaam and the Ass in the Bible).

The protagonist, Lucius, at the end of the novel, is revealed to be from Madaurus, the hometown of Apuleius himself. The plot revolves around the protagonist's curiosity and insatiable desire to see and practice magic. While trying to perform a spell to transform into a bird, he is accidentally transformed into an ass.

It really is a series of stories such as stories about Cupid and Psyce. An episodic picaresque novel and reminding me of the other picaresque novels found on the 1001 books list. ( )

In a nutshell - this is a story about a man who gets turned into an Ass, spends some time as a beast of burden, than has a religious epiphany and is turned back to a man.

I liked it. However, the ending was a bit too rapturous as Lucius discovers religion, however, I found it interesting that religious ferver is the same, regardless of age or religion. Its pure comedy, as Lucius goes from one problem, to another, with his way of becoming human again always just out or reach. ( )

This is a Roman picaresque novel centering on the adventures of Lucius, who travels to Thessaly to seek his fortune. The city’s reputation for magic excites him, and he wants to see wonders. He goes to the home of his aunt Byrrhena. Seemingly unimpressed by the mechanical wonders of her palace, he decides to seek lodging in the city. Ignoring his aunt’s warning, he stays with Milo, whose wife is a witch. Lucius becomes romantically involved with Milo’s slave Photis, who is instrumental in providing Lucius with the ointment that brings about his transformation into an ass.

Up to this point in the narrative, there a several points of interest from a Gnostic perspective. The names Lucius and Photis share a common calque, light. This suggests a certain relationship between them, beyond the obvious sexual one depicted on the surface of the novel. Attracted to the reputed wonders of Thessaly, he spurns those that are readily before him in favor of the illusions he brings with him, i.e., the stories of witches and their powers. At Lucius’ request, Photis steals some metamorphosing ointment from her mistress. Instead of becoming a bird, as he had seen the witch do, Lucius becomes an ass. It is unclear whether Photis brought the wrong ointment, and if she did, whether she did so intentionally, or whether the effect of the ointment varies by user. Even then, it is an open question whether Photis knew what would happen to Lucius. Interestingly, she knows the cure: he must simply eat roses.

Before he returns to his previous form, Lucius goes on a series of adventures, almost like a program of karma yoga. In this respect, it reminds me of Milarepa’s ordeals to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime. Here, however, there is no indication that Lucius had led a bad life and was being punished, he merely must work through the lower, materialistic aspects of his soul before he is given the roses that will give him back his human form.

The most interesting interlude comes halfway through the story when Lucius is held captive by robbers. While in their cave, he hears an old woman tell the story of Cupid and Psyche. Her story covers several chapters of the novel, and the robbers kill her once she finishes it. Both of these details suggest the importance of the story: it takes up a large portion of the narrative, and it is as if the woman was waiting all her life to relate it, and once done, her life was complete. The story itself is a retelling of the Y-H-V-H formula of the redintegration of the Soul. In this version, however, the Queen does not want the Princess to supplant her and actively thwarts the Prince’s actions. In the larger schema of the story, Photis is the Vav to Lucius’s final Heh. Lucius’s inability to get an immediate remedy to his condition suggests an unseen initial Heh at work.

Once the roses physically purify Lucius, he undergoes spiritual purification through a three-part initiation into the cult of Isis. An analogy to Liber XV might be the following: (1) Lucius is transformed into an ass (the Priest, after having purified and consecrated the Priestess, closes the veil, shutting himself off from her light); (2) Lucius undergoes a series of adventures (the Priest circumambulates the Temple); and (3) Lucius eats the roses and resumes human form (the Priest opens the Veil, renewing his visual contact with the Priestess, and the roses on the altar). It is tempting to compare the Priest’s mounting of the three steps with Lucius’s initiations into the mysteries of Isis, but the steps come before the opening of the veil, and only the first step has Isian connotations. ( )

This is a surprisingly entertaining 2nd century Roman novel. It describes a young man, curious about magic, that gets turned into a donkey. Sarah Ruden's translation into modern English makes this a lively read. ( )

"It is a difficult matter to keep love imprisoned."

Written in the second century AD originally in Latin this book is packed with often grisly stories and striking characters. The narrator, Lucius, travels to Thessaly, the land of witchcraft, where he is accidentally transformed in to an ass as a result of his foolish curiosity about witchcraft.

Lucius starts out as a thoughtless, womanising glutton who basically acts like an ass, and so is transformed into one.He has a pretty rough time of it in his asinine form, trapped in a world of depravity, where violence, cruelty and sexual lust are rife until tiring of abuse at the hands of cruel owners, near death experiences and other shameful circumstances, he finally gives himself up to prayer and is restored by divine intervention by the Goddess Isis. "I have come in pity of your plight, I have come to favour and aid you. Weep no more, lament no longer, for the hour of your deliverance, shone over by my watchful light, is at hand." After his restoration he puts his former ways behind him and lives happily as a lawyer.


Although the book is a fantasy, by turns grim, funny and bawdy the underlying theme is a moral and a religious one, of the soul's redemption by divine love.

A lot of the humour is somewhat crude which really seemed at odds with the oldie-style language used but all the same the story rolls along at a good pace. There are many side stories, including a lengthy section describing the story of Cupid and Psyche, but overall I felt that these helped the main story to flow rather than in any way hinder it.

I'm not sure what my expectations were before I opened this book but they were most definitely dumbfounded. I anticipated some religious undertones but I certainly didn't expect it's bawdy nature, equally I found it a relatively easy, quick and enjoyable read once I got a feel for the language whereas I was expecting a bit of a slog. Nor did I anticipate it being so graphic. I felt that the final chapter was a little too overblown but my main complaint was that in my version of this book the word 'divers' was misused on numerous occasions instead of the word 'diverse', this really did begin to bug me towards the end of it. But these are only very minor gripes.

Don't be afraid to tackle this book because of its age, you may be surprised. As Apuleius puts it himself in his introduction: “If you are not put off by the Egyptian story-telling convention that allows humans to be changed into animals and, after various adventures, restored to their proper shapes, you should be amused by this queer novel… now read on and enjoy yourself!” ( )

Witches, sex, witch sex, donkey dicks, projectile pooping, man-eating ants, piss as a weapon, blood fountains, cuckolds, rabies, murder. What’s not to like? Human vulgarity has thrived since time immemorial, y’all. It is truly fitting that this non-stop debauchathon is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety. Last kudos to Apuleius for there has never been as universally and as perennially a relevant question as “do we now have to put up with an ass playing the philosopher?” ( )

My first attempt at reading something written in Olde English, (I was reading the 1566 English edition) and it was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Also good to know that bathroom humor was alive and well in the late 2nd century. ( )

It's a must read. I have no words to describe the raw power of Apuleius's wit and literary craftsmanship. Some of the stories contained within are far fetched, but that just increased the allure of the novel. ( )

2019
https://www.librarything.com/topic/301619#6750716 ( )

Apuleius' comedic romp is a gentle, breezy tale told through in the 3rd person P.O.V. He manages to touch on many characters, settings, and themes in his work and the component parts all serve to augment the whole. Apuleius is quite a writer, and the old fashioned language rather serves to accentuate the power of the language rather than serve as a detriment to it.

All in all, a good show! 3.5 stars! ( )

Fantastic read. A blend of ancient myth and reality, not sure which one is stranger. Just the fact that it was written long before Medieval times is mind boggling ( )

The tales of Lucius Apuleius, whose adventures form the framework for storytelling at each of the locations along his journey, and there are many. Early in the tale, Lucius, because of his curiosity about magic, is transformed into an ass. As he is passed from owner to owner, he suffers beatings and cruelty and constant threats of death, but he is somehow within earshot of the stories he tells, most of which have to do with cuckoldry, and are humorous, although the punishments to the unfortunate, especially if they are slaves, are extreme. The most well-known of the tales is the Tale of Cupid and Psyche. At the end, however, Lucius is transformed back into human form, and becomes a devoted initiate into the cults of Isis and Osiris, and also has a career as a successful barrister.

Robert Graves' translation is both readable and entertaining. The wry telling of the unfortunate but sympathetic narrator's adventures invites the term picaresque, although that particular designation for novels came much later. It's easy to see the influence of Lucius on world literature. This work from the 2nd century AD seems to have influenced Chaucer, and Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream ia perhaps the most well-known instance of a human turning into an ass. Other borrowers include Milton, Boccacio, Cervantes, Dekker, Kyd and Kafka.

The description of Isis, the Mother Goddess, is adoration itself: "so lovely a face that the gods themselves would have fallen down in adoration of it." Long thick hair falling in ringlets, crowned with a garland of flowers, and a disk on her forehead, held by vipers. A multi-colored linen robe; and a black mantle covered with stars. Her left hand holds suspended a boat-shaped gold dish, and on the handle there is an asp ready to strike. She is accompanied by all the perfumes of Arabia. She tells Lucius, "I am Nature, the Universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are. My nod governs the shiny heights of heaven, the wholesome sea breezes, the lamentable silences of the world below." Perhaps an invocation of Graves' White Goddess? ( )

"...I was obliged to face the mortifying fact that I had been transformed not into a bird, but into a plain Jackass." - Book V: Lucius is Transformed

Tales of comedy, drama, tragedy, incest, fratricide, bestiality; Apuleius' Metamorphoses contains a wide variety of tales, and is the earliest source for the myth of Cupid & Psyche.

Graves' translation was very readable.
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"I did not leave the kitchen until I had taken a careful look at her from head to foot. But for the moment I need only write about her head; the truth is that I have an obsession about hair. Whenever I meet a pretty woman, the first thing that catches my eye is her hair; I make a careful mental picture to carry home and brood over in private. This habit of mine I justify on a sound logical principle; that the hair is the most important and conspicuous feature of the body, and that its natural brilliance does for the head what gaily coloured clothes do for the trunk. In fact, it does a great deal more. You know how women, when they want to display their beauty to the full, shed their embroidered wraps and step out of their expensive dresses, and proudly reveal themselves with nothing on at all, aware that even the brightest gold tissue has less effect on a man than the delicate tints of a woman's naked body. But - and here you must excuse a horrible idea which I hope nobody will ever put into practice - if you shaved the head of even the most beautiful woman alive and so deprived her face of its natural setting, then I don't care whether she originally floated down from sea-foam like the Goddess Venus - I don't even care whether she were Venus herself, with every one of the Graces and Cupids in attendance, Venus dripping with precious balsam and fragrant as cinnamon, and with the famous girdle of love clasped about her waist - the fact is, that her baldness would leave her completely without attraction even for so devoted a husband as the God Vulcan.

What joy it is to see hair of a beautiful colour caught in the full rays of the sun, or shining with a milder lustre and constantly varying its shade as the light shifts. Golden at one moment, at the next honey-coloured; or black as a raven's wing, but suddenly taking on the next pale blueish tints of a dove's neck-feathers. Give it a gloss with a spikenard lotion, part it neatly with a finely toothed comb, catch it up with a ribbon behind - and the lover will make it a sort of mirror to reflect his own delighted looks. And oh, when hair is bunched up in a thick luxurious mass on a woman's head or, better still, allowed to flow rippling down her neck in profuse curls! I must content myself by saying baldly that such is the glory of woman's hair that though she may be wearing the most exquisite clothes and the most expensive jewellery in existence, with everything else in keeping, she cannot look even moderately well dressed unless she has done her hair in proper style." —Book II: At Milo's House ( )

The Robert Graves tranlation. Wonderful for it's showcasing of daily life and characters in the late Roman world. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed Quentin Blake's artwork as well as the book. One of my all-time fave books is the Decameron and I picked up where the girl over the barrel/pot story came from....The Golden Ass. Twas an easy fun read watching the metamorphosis of the material Lucius (human to ass) into the spiritual Lucius (one who would diddle with the slave girl becomes one following the religion of Isis). My book was the limited edition put out by the Folio Society in 2015. ( )

"Bestiality. Kidnapping. Mugging. Ye olde carjacking. Burglary. Assault. Murder. Female paedophiles. Incest. Male rape. Adultery. Animal cruelty. Serial killers in the making. Poisonings. Homosexual priest gangbangs. Shapeshifting. Gods and goddesses. The Seven Deadly Sins. Evil mother-in-laws. Drama. Comedy. Tragedy. Adventure. Romance. Horror. Urban legends. Stories within stories. Inspiration for that Hannibal episode where a person was sewn into a dead horse's belly."

What more can you ask for? ( )

This ancient Greek novel tells the story of a man who is transformed into an ass through magic. He is bought and sold by numerous owners until he is finally turned back into a man by the goddess Isis. As is common with ancient Greek texts, the narrator makes frequent digressions from the main storyline to relate other stories, some from mythology and others about minor characters in the novel.

I read the translation by Robert Graves, which was very easy to read. The constant digressions into other stories made it hard to remember what was happening to the main character, but it was still an interesting read. ( )

I found parts of this book hard to follow but I'm sure part of it was the translator of the version I read. The main story is about a man who experiments with magic and ends up transformed into a donkey for most of the book. Interesting look at the culture, a lot racier than I expected. ( )

I read this in the Adlington translation and if I was a drug taker (I am not- this is better I would imagine), I would describe this as a trip. As I understand this edition was translated about 1566. Yes, that was the date of the translation. We are told that he used the second century original words along side the French edition and took us with him on this translation.

I am as much delighted with this translation as I am with the stories. Much of the charm, if that is appropriate for much of the subject matter, come from this translation.

This is definitely not appropriate for our current crop of censors but find a way to read it instead. It is a fancy after all and a very Roman one at that.

I read this in the Kindle edition and it was one of the books that is available for no cost at all.

Where have we come that some of the best literature can be delivered in our humble hands for a soft click? OK, we are in a Golden Age but we don't deserve it. Admit it. Imagine showing a Kindle to Thomas Jefferson and downloading this work at no cost. He would have made no time for his salons of music. ( )

This one was interesting. I enjoyed the playful language and the premise of the pickle in which the protagonist found himself. I presume the carnality would be considered shocking for the time, but it's inclusion added to the intrigue. This could certainly stand to be updated to a modern version in books and/or film. I suppose Pinocchio is a version of it. ( )