Book description
Written 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.
Lucius Apuleius (2nd Century AD) North African fubulist, who
Latinized the Greek myths and legends. He travelled widely, visiting
Italy, Asia &c and was there initiated into numerous religious
mysteries. The knowledge which he thus acquired of the priestly
fraternities he drew on for his Golden Ass.
E. J. Kenney is Emeritus Kennedy Professor of Latin in the
University of Cambridge. His publications include a critical edition
of Ovid's amatory works. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.
