Description

‘A story of men’s shapes and fortunes change into other forms and then restored all over again… Give me your ear, reader: you will enjoy yourself’

Written towards the end of the second century AD, The Golden Ass tells of the many adventures of a young man whose fascination with witchcraft leads to his transformation into a donkey. The bewitched Lucius passes from owner to owner- encountering a desperate gang of robbers and being forced to perform lewd ‘human’ tricks on stage – until the golden Isis finally brakes the spell and Lucius is initiated into her cult. Apuleius’ enchanting story has inspired generations of writers such as Boccaccio, Shankespeare, Cervantes and Keats with its dazzling combination of allegory, satire, bawdiness and sheer exuberance, and remains the most continuously and accessibly amusing book to have survived from Classical antiquity.

About the Author

E.J. Kenney’s lively modern translation retains the humorous, extravagant style of the original. In his introduction, he examines the language and structure of the story, and its themes of transformation and spiritual illumination. This edition also includes suggestions for further reading, maps, notes, and an index.