The Golden Ass

Apuleius (c.124–170), translated by Kline, A. S. (contact-email)

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The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, also known as The Golden Ass, is the sole Roman novel in Latin that has survived in full. It follows Lucius, whose failed magic spell turns him into an ass, triggering both a physical and symbolic journey packed with embedded narratives. Isis, the goddess, eventually offers him redemption. The novel’s composition date is debated, but it is adapted from a now-lost Greek text by Lucius of Patrae. Another work, “Lucius or the Ass,” possibly an abridged version of the Greek original, is credited to Lucian, a contemporary of Apuleius.

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Kline, A. S.

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