Apuleius

This bawdy novel from Ancient Rome is given new significance by renowned Australian philosopher Peter Singer. Peter Singer has breathed new life into Apuleius's The Golden Ass—a hilarious, bawdy tale and one of the earliest novels. Apuleius's The Golden Ass, one of a handful of surviving ancient novels, has remained relatively unknown—until now. Renowned philosopher and animal rights activist Peter...

Acclaimed poet and translator Sarah Ruden brilliantly brings Apuleius's comic tale to life. “A rollicking ride well worth the fare, . . . marvelously, sidesplittingly ridiculous. . . . It’s a story, not a homily, and Sarah Ruden has re-bestowed it with artful aplomb.” — Tracy Lee Simmons, National Review “A cause for celebration. . . . We owe Sarah...

Apuleius, one of the great stylists of Latin literature, was born circa 125 AD in Madauros to a politically prominent family and received an elite education in the provincial capital Carthage and at Athens, where he began a lifelong allegiance to Platonic philosophy. In the later 150s, he married Pudentilla of Oea, a wealthy widow, and seems to have enjoyed...

In the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, also known as The Golden Ass, we have the only Latin novel which survives entire. It is truly enchanting: a delightful romance combining realism and magic. The hero, Lucius, eager to experience the sensations of a bird, resorts to witchcraft but by an unfortunate pharmaceutical error finds himself transformed into an ass. He knows he...

In the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, also known as The Golden Ass, we have the only Latin novel which survives entire. It is truly enchanting: a delightful romance combining realism and magic. The hero, Lucius, eager to experience the sensations of a bird, resorts to witchcraft but by an unfortunate pharmaceutical error finds himself transformed into an ass. He knows he...

Is The Tale of Cupid and Psyche a romance, a folktale, a Platonic allegory of the nature of the soul, a Jungian tale of individuation, or an archetypal dream? This volume provides Joel Relihan's lively translation of this best known section of Apuleius' Golden Ass, some useful and illustrative parallels, and an engaging discussion of what to make of this...