Apuleius

Apuleius should not be confused with Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, a Roman demagogue or with Pseudo-Apuleius, an author.

Lucius Apuleius (c. A.D. 123/5 - c. A.D. 180), an utterly Romanized Berber who described himself as "half-Numidian half-Gaetulian", is remembered most for his bawdy picaresque Latin novel the Metamorphoses, otherwise known as The Golden Ass or, in Latin, the Aureus Asinus (where the Latin word aureus - golden - connoted an element of blessed luckiness).

He was born in Madaurus (now Mdaourouch, Algeria), a Roman colony in Numidia on the North African coast, bordering Gaetulia; this is the same colonia where Saint Augustine later received part of his early education, and, though located well away from the Romanized coast, is today the site of some pristine Roman ruins. Details regarding his life come mostly from his defense speech (see below) and a work entitled "Florida," which consists of snippets taken from some of his best speeches. There is also a desire on the part of many to take details from his seemingly autobiographical novel and apply them to Apuleius, but this is not a reliable source^{[citation needed]} — most notably, the novel is misused as evidence that Apuleius was a worshiper of Isis, though there is good reason to think that this was not the case.^{[citation needed]} Another dubious conclusion is that "Lucius," the first name of the main character of the novel, was also the first name of Apuleius — wishful thinking for which there is no concrete evidence.^{[citation needed]}

Apuleius inherited a substantial fortune from his father, a provincial magistrate. Apuleius studied with a master at Carthage and later at Athens, where he studied Platonic philosophy among other subjects. He subsequently went to Rome to study Latin oratory and, most likely, to declaim in the law courts for a time before returning to his native North Africa. He also travelled extensively in Asia Minor and Egypt, studying philosophy and religion, burning up his inheritance while doing so.

After being accused of using magic to gain the attentions (and fortune) of the wealthy widow he married (the mother of a school chum from his days in Athens), he declaimed and then distributed a witty tour de force in his own defense before the proconsul and a court of magistrates convened in Sabratha, near Tripoli, the Apologia (A Discourse on Magic). The work has very little to do with magic, and a lot to do with making mincemeat of his opponents, with hilarity and panache. It is among the funniest works that have come down to us from Antiquity -- it is certainly the most entertaining example of Latin courtroom oratory to survive, though some fans of Cicero might disagree -- and firmly places Apuleius among the great humorists of his day.

His other works include On the God of Socrates, Apologia, Florida, On Plato and his Doctrine, and possibly On the Universe.

The Metamorphoses is the only Latin novel that has survived in its entirety. It is an imaginative, irreverent, and amusing work that relates the ludicrous adventures of one Lucius, who experiments in magic and is accidentally turned into an ass. In this guise he hears and sees many unusual things, until escaping from his predicament in a rather unexpected way (see SPOILER below). Within this frame story are found multiple digressions, the longest among them being the well-known tale of Cupid and Psyche.

The Metamorphoses ends with the hero, Lucius, being rescued by Isis and transformed back from his donkey form. Lucius subsequently becomes a worshiper of Isis, and Apuleius provides a lengthy account of his initiation into the mysteries of Isis, which some see as autobiographical. But Apuleius need not have been a worshiper of Isis to know the details he provides, and this work is more likely to belong to a sub-genre of stories involving rescue by Isis.^{[citation needed]} It is even possible that he is mocking such intensely devout worshipers of the goddess.^{[citation needed]}

External links

Works by Apuleius at Project Gutenberg
Apulei Opera (Latin texts of all the surviving works of Apuleius) at The Latin Library
English translation of Florida by H. E. Butler (PDF)
English translation of the Apologia by H. E. Butler
English translation of the Apologia by H. E. Butler (PDF)
Apuleius - Apologia: Seminar (Latin text of the Apologia with H. E. Butler's English translation and an English crib with discussion and commentary)
Apuleius of Madauros, Pro Se De Magia (Apologia), edited with a commentary by Vincent Hunink (Long and detailed introduction to the Apologia)
Apology as Prosecution: The Trial of Apuleius
Apuleius' works: text, concordances and frequency list