Back الحمار الذهبي Arabic Metamorfozalar (Apuleyus) Azerbaijani Златното магаре Bulgarian Les metamorfosis (Apuleu) Catalan Apuleius#Metamorphosen German Οι Μεταμορφώσεις ή Ο Χρυσός γάιδαρος Greek La ora azeno Esperanto Las metamorfosis (Apuleyo) Spanish Urrezko astoa Basque الاغ طلایی Persian
 Title page from John Price's Latin edition of Apuleius' novel Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass (Gouda, Netherlands, 1650) | |
| Author | Apuleius |
|---|---|
| Original title | Metamorphoses |
| Translator | William Adlington Thomas Taylor George Head Francis D. Byrne H. E. Butler Robert Graves Jack Lindsay John Arthur Hanson P. G. Walsh Edward John Kenney Joel C. Relihan Sarah Ruden |
| Language | Latin |
| Genre | Picaresque novel |
Publication date | Late 2nd century AD |
| Publication place | Numidia, present Algeria |
Published in English | 1566 |
| Media type | Manuscript |
| 873.01 | |
| LC Class | PA6209 .M3 |
Original text | Metamorphoses at Latin Wikisource |
| Translation | The Golden Ass at Wikisource |
The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as The Golden Ass (Asinus aureus),[1] is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety.[2]
The protagonist of the novel is Lucius.[3] At the end of the novel, he is revealed to be from Madaurus,[4] 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 inset tales. He finally finds salvation through the intervention of the goddess Isis, whose cult he joins.
- ^ St. Augustine, The City of God 18.18.2'
- ^ James Evans (2005). Arts and Humanities Through the Eras. Thomson/Gale. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7876-5699-7.
The "Golden Ass," the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety
- ^ The Golden Ass 1.24
- ^ The Golden Ass 11.27