Books with author Apuleius

"Cupid and Psyche" first appears in a early, risqué novel by an African Roman of the 2nd century CE. His name was Lucius Apuleius, known as Africanus. His novel is thought to give us inside details of the workings of ancient mystery rites, as well as this charming romantic story of love between a mortal and a god.The myth of Cupid and Psyche is one of the great love stories of the ancient world and it even has a happy ending. It's also a myth in which a heroine must prove her mettle by coming back from the dead.Psyche is a stunningly beautiful princess, the youngest and most beautiful of three sisters, so lovely that people begin worshiping her rather than the goddess Venus (Aphrodite in Greek mythology). In jealousy and rage, Venus persuades her son the infant god Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with a monster. Psyche discovers that she is revered as a goddess but never sought for human love. Her father seeks a solution from Apollo, who tells him to expose her on a mountaintop where she will be devoured by a monster.In obedience, Psyche goes to the mountain, but instead of being devoured she wakes to find herself in a gorgeous palace and ministered to by unseen servants in the daytime, and joined by an unseen bridegroom in the nights. Against her lover's wishes, she invites her plainer sisters to the palace, where their envy is excited, and they convince her that her unseen bridegroom is truly a serpent who she must kill before he eats her.

This carefully crafted ebook: "The Golden Ass (The Metamorphoses of Apuleius)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Apuleius (c. 125-c. 180) was a student of Platonist philosophy and Latin prose writer who produced the novel "Metamorphoses", more popularly known as "The Golden Ass". This work is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety. Adapted from an earlier Greek story, "The Golden Ass" tells of the adventures of Lucius, a young man who is obsessed with magic. In attempting to perform a spell, Lucius inadvertently transforms himself into an ass. His long and arduous journey is ornately illustrated by Apuleius' witty, imaginative, and often explicit language, in a series of subplots that carry the reader through to Lucius' salvation by the goddess Isis. These include the stories of Cupid and Psyche, Aristomenes, Thelyphron and others. The novel reflects Apuleius' own fascination with magic and the occult, and although comical at times, contains very serious messages about impiety towards the gods, and the risks of tampering with the supernatural.

Excerpt from The Metamorphosis, or Golden Ass, and Philosophical Works, of Apuleius: Translated From the Original LatinThe publication and elucidation of all the works that remain of the above-mentioned incomparable Greeks, will form a new and most important era in philosophy; and will contribute, more than any thing else, to prevent the circulation of the stupid and false accounts of the heathen theology and mythology, and of many other fungous and frivolous productions, under which the European press in general, and particularly that of England, at present groans.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Golden Ass (Asinus Aureus) or 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 introduces himself as related to the famous philosophers Plutarch and Sextus of Chaeronea. Lucius experiments with 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. Within this frame story are found many digressions, the longest among them being the well-known tale of Cupid and Psyche. This story is a rare instance of a fairy tale preserved in an ancient literary text.

The Golden Ass (Asinus Aureus) or 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 introduces himself as related to the famous philosophers Plutarch and Sextus of Chaeronea. Lucius experiments with 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. Within this frame story are found many digressions, the longest among them being the well-known tale of Cupid and Psyche. This story is a rare instance of a fairy tale preserved in an ancient literary text.

The Golden Ass is the only Ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety. The protagonist of the novel is called Lucius, like the author. At the end of the novel, he is revealed to be from Madaurus, the hometown of Apuleius himself. The plot revolves around the protagonist's curiosity (curiositas) and insatiable desire to see and practice magic. While trying to perform a spell to transform into a bird, he is accidentally transformed into an ass. This leads to a long journey, literal and metaphorical, filled with in-set tales. He finally finds salvation through the intervention of the goddess Isis, whose cult he joins.