 Title page from John Price's Latin edition of Apuleius' novel Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass (Gouda, Netherlands, 1650) | |
| Author | Apuleius |
|---|---|
| Original title | Metamorphoses |
| Translator | William Adlington Thomas Taylor George Head Francis D. Byrne H. E. Butler Robert Graves Jack Lindsay John Arthur Hanson P. G. Walsh Edward John Kenney Joel C. Relihan Sarah Ruden |
| Language | Latin |
| Genre | Picaresque novel |
Publication date | Late 2nd century AD |
| Publication place | Numidia, present Algeria |
Published in English | 1566 |
| Media type | Manuscript |
| 873.01 | |
| LC Class | PA6209 .M3 |
Original text | Metamorphoses at Latin Wikisource |
| Translation | The Golden Ass at Wikisource |
The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as The Golden Ass (Latin: Asinus aureus),[1] is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety.[2]
The protagonist of the novel is Lucius.[3] At the end of the novel, he is revealed to be from Madaurus,[4] the hometown of Apuleius himself. The plot revolves around the protagonist's curiosity (curiositas) 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. This leads to a long journey, literal and metaphorical, filled with inset tales. He finally finds salvation through the intervention of the goddess Isis, whose cult he joins.
- ^ St. Augustine, The City of God 18.18.2
- ^ James Evans (2005). Arts and Humanities Through the Eras. Thomson/Gale. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7876-5699-7.
The "Golden Ass," the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety
- ^ The Golden Ass 1.24
- ^ The Golden Ass 11.27