The Golden AssWritten towards the end of the second century AD, The Golden Ass tells the story of the many adventures of a young man whose fascination with witchcraft leads him to be transformed into a donkey. The bewitched Lucius passes from owner to owner - encountering a desperate gang of robbers and being forced to perform lewd 'human' tricks on stage - until the Goddess Isis finally breaks the spell and Lucius is initiated into her cult. Apuleius' enchanting story has inspired generations of writers such as Boccaccio, Shakespeare, Cervantes and Keats with its dazzling combination of allegory, satire, bawdiness and sheer exuberance, and remains the most continuously and accessibly amusing book to have survived from Classical antiquity. |
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Common terms and phrases
Achilles Tatius Aegium Aeneid animals appeared Apuleius Aristomenes arms asked Atargatis baths beasts beauty began body Byrrhena called carried Ceres Charite Corinth crime crowd Cupid and Psyche dead death Demochares dinner divine door ears embrace escape eyes face famous fate fear feet follows Fortune girl goddess gods gold Golden Ass Greek grief ground hair hands happened head heaven honour human husband Isis kissed Lamachus Latin literary load look lover Lucius Madaura man’s marriage master Meanwhile Metamorphoses Milo mistress mother murder Myrmex night novel old woman once Onos Osiris Ovid Ovid’s Pamphile Photis pity pleasure Plutarch priest Proserpine Psyche’s reader robbers Roman Rome sesterces shape sisters sistrum slave sleep story sword tears tell Thessaly Thiasus thought Thrasyllus Tlepolemus told took turned Venus what’s whole wife wine words young
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Golden Ass Penguin classics |
| Author | Apuleius |
| Publisher | Penguin UK, 1998 |
| ISBN | 014190450X, 9780141904504 |
| Length | 320 pages |
| Subjects | › Fiction / Classics Literary Collections / Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |