Other editions of book The Golden Ass

Preface And unto the Readers of this Book THAT I to thee some joyous jests may show in gentle gloze, And frankly feed thy bended eares with passing pleasant prose: So that thou daine in seemly sort this wanton booke to view, That is set out and garnisht fine, with written phrases new. I will declare how one by hap his humane figure lost, And how in brutish formed shape, his loathed life he tost. And how he was in course of time from such a state unfold, Who eftsoone turn'd to pristine shape his lot unlucky told.

With accuracy, wit, and intelligence, this remarkable new translation of The Golden Ass breathes new life into Apuleius's classic work. Sarah Ruden, a lyric poet as well as a highly respected translator, skillfully duplicates the verbal high jinks of Apuleius's ever-popular novel. It tells the story of Lucius, a curious and silly young man, who is turned into a donkey when he meddles with witchcraft. Doomed to wander from region to region and mistreated by a series of deplorable owners, Lucius at last is restored to human form with the help of the goddess Isis. The Golden Ass, the first Latin novel to survive in its entirety, is related to the Second Sophistic, a movement of learned and inventive literature. In a translation that is both the most faithful and the most entertaining to date, Ruden reveals to modern readers the vivid, farcical ingenuity of Apuleius's style.

The Metamorphoses of Apuleius — which St. Augustine referred to as The Golden Ass (Asinus aureus) — is the only Ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety.The protagonist of the novel is called Lucius. At the end of the novel, he is revealed to be from Madaurus, in ancient Algeria,[3] 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.

The Golden Ass has the distinction of being the only novel from Classical Rome to have survived completely to the modern day. This classic translation by William Adlington preserves the original spirit of the text, which is filled with adventurous whimsy. The protagonist, Lucius, has an obsession with magic and wishes above all else to perform and demonstrate his abilities. However one day, during an attempt to turn himself into a bird, Lucius instead turns himself into an ass, or donkey. After this transformation Lucius must journey from place to place, seeking to reverse his fate. What follows are a series of adventures wherein fellow characters, and the ensuing escapades and misfortunes, must be endured by Lucius in spite of his animal form. Facing accusations of murder, almost being cooked for his meat, finding himself under the ownership of a Roman Legionary and meeting the Goddess Isis are just a few of the events that transpire around Lucius. Variously attributed with the status of comic novel, coming of age story, and episodic adventure book, The Golden Ass remains an entertaining read. Whether the reader is a student of classics or early literature, or simply desires a good novel of historical import, the text is worthy of reading.