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Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass), Vol 1 of 2: Books 1-6
In the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, also known as The Golden Ass, we have the only Latin novel which survives entire. It is truly enchanting: a delightful romance combining realism and magic.
The hero, Lucius, eager to experience the sensations of a bird, resorts to witchcraft but by an unfortunate pharmaceutical error finds himself transformed into an ass. He knows he can revert to his own body by eating rose-petals, but these prove singularly elusive; and the bulk of the work describes his adventures as an animal. He also retails many stories that he overheard, the most charming being that of Cupid and Psyche (beginning, in true fairy-tale fashion, 'Erant in quadam civitate rex et regina'). Some of the stories are as indecent as they are witty, and two in the ninth book were deemed by Boccaccio worthy of inclusion in the Decameron. At last the goddess Isis takes pity on Lucius. In a surprising denouement, he is restored to human shape and, now spiritually regenerated, is initiated into her mysteries. The author's baroque Latin style nicely matches his fantastic narrative and is guaranteed to hold a reader's attention from beginning to end.
J. Arthur Hanson was at the time of his death in 1985 Giger Professor of Latin at Princeton University. His publications include Roman Theater-Temples.
The Loeb Classical Library edition of Apuleius is in two volumes.
371 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 158
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About the author
Apuleius
422 books232 followersPeople best know
The Golden Ass
, work of Roman philosopher and satirist Lucius Apuleius.
Apuleius (Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis “Africanus”; Berber: Afulay) wrote Latin-language prose.
This Berber of Numidia lived under the empire. From Madaurus (now M'Daourouch, Algeria), he studied Platonism in Athens and traveled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt. Several cults or mysteries initiated him.
In the most famous incident in his life, people then accused him of using magic to gain the attentions and fortune of a wealthy widow. Apuleius 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 ancient Tripoli, Libya.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apuleius
Apuleius (Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis “Africanus”; Berber: Afulay) wrote Latin-language prose.
This Berber of Numidia lived under the empire. From Madaurus (now M'Daourouch, Algeria), he studied Platonism in Athens and traveled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt. Several cults or mysteries initiated him.
In the most famous incident in his life, people then accused him of using magic to gain the attentions and fortune of a wealthy widow. Apuleius 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 ancient Tripoli, Libya.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apuleius
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
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August 13, 2016The myth of Cupid and Psyche, as told by Apuleius, is endlessly fascinating.
-SR
-SR
August 18, 2025
An engaging and mythologically significant novel, the only complete surviving Latin novel! The text is good and I particularly enjoyed reading the myth of Cupid and Psyche. It is a little disorienting when these long tangential stories are told by random characters as it is quite hard to remember the main plot or who was telling the story in the first place.
February 19, 2022
The book Metamorphoses was written in 161 a.C. and it was read by all social statuses and categories of people (soldiers, kings, philosophers, working people) for entertainment, and for us today is the most important text on the mystery cult of Isis, initiation to the ancient cults, and the daily life in Hellas during the Romand Era, the period of Pax Romana. Apuleius based the hypothesis of the book on a book written by another Hellene, Lucius from Patrai. The main hero is Hellene Lucius, who travels to different places of Hellas and engages in many adventures, seeing people from different social positions as he is transformed into an ass/donkey. He visited Thessalia to find a friend (Milon) and then learns that his wife is a witch. So, in his effort to experience witchcraft he uses an ointment, but a mistake transformed him into a donkey, instead of an owl. He starts to live as a donkey and he made several efforts to transform into a human again. The donkey changes owners throughout the adventurous life he has and sees different people, lives different situations, and learns a lot of things from people and society. In books four to seven, he is a member of a thieves gang. In book eight he is serving a bunch of fake priests of Cybele. He makes fun of their ill passions, being homosexuals. Book nine is working to a mill and witnesses more unfaithful wives. In book ten he is making tricks and having sex with a woman. In the end, in book eleven, due to his bad luck, he escapes and goes to the beach and prays to the female goddesses to help him. Isis appears to him in order to help him. After that, he becomes an initiate and a priest of Isis in Hellas, in Rome, and of Osiris, being initiated three times. We see how his life completely changed after the appearance of the goddess Isis, his actions, and his communion with the Gods. We also learn a lot about witchcraft, magick, and mystery religions.
The book is full of adventurous stories, it is funny, full of unfaithful wives, sex, witchcraft and bad luck, interesting and one of the best books you will ever read in your life.
The book is full of adventurous stories, it is funny, full of unfaithful wives, sex, witchcraft and bad luck, interesting and one of the best books you will ever read in your life.
August 13, 2022
I first read Metamorphoses, or The Golden Ass as it is sometimes known, over forty years ago. That was a Penguin Classics translation by Robert Graves. Later I read a more modern Penguin Classics translation and I think there has been at least one more Penguin Classics translation since then. So, the message is, if you don’t read Latin, get a good, modern, accurate translation, and as Apuleius says at the start of this volume, you will be entertained.
This is the story of a young man, Lucius, who is insatiably curious and fascinated by the occult. He can’t keep his nose out of magic and rituals and witchcraft and whatnot. The result is that he finds himself turned into an ass (he was hoping to transform himself into an owl). On the night of his metamorphosis the house he is staying in is attacked by robbers. He is loaded up with loot and dragged off into the mountains to the robbers’ lair. While he is there he overhears the old woman who cooks and cleans for the robbers telling the story of Cupid and Psyche. That story takes up a large chunk of Volume I. It reads like a fairy tale with a beautiful princess, doting parents, wicked sisters, lots of ups and downs and – finally – love triumphant. On a philosophical level it could be an allegory, as in when Love meets Soul you get Pleasure. Something like that. Readers have spent nearly 2000 years arguing about the meaning of it all. Scholars have also built and demolished careers analysing The Golden Ass and wondering what Apuleius was getting at. Is it comedy? Is there a serious philosophical or religious message there? Is it “psychological”? Is it really a unified work or just a bunch of weird – and often bawdy – yarns? I reread it every few years and I still don’t get it, but I do find it just as much fun to read as I did when I was a teenager.
Apuleius himself was born in what is now Algeria in about 125CE. His native language was Punic and he learned Greek and Latin as second and third languages. His family were well off and he was able to travel a great deal. He also married money. At one point he worked as a lawyer in Rome. Later he seems to have been an academic and philosophy lecturer in Carthage. He claims to have written a vast amount of stuff, including plays and philosophical works in Greek and Latin. Unfortunately all his Greek works are lost and only a few of his Latin works survive. Metamorphoses is the most well-known of these. It is now generally regarded as an early example of the novel. I have two other Apuleius texts. One covers the story of Cupid and Psyche with a detailed introduction and notes. The other covers several stories that the narrator overhears and shows how ingenious – and cunning – Apuleius is as a storyteller. His Latin can be difficult but it’s often very beautiful and that beauty can be lost in translation. Apuleius wrote in what classicists call “African Latin”, which stands in relation to “standard Latin” like Irish English compared to British English. That is, just as many of the greatest writers of “English Literature” were Irish (Swift, Joyce, Yeats et al.), many of the greatest classical Latin writers were African (Tertullian, St Augustine of Hippo, Apuleius et al.). They take the Latin language to another level.
If you want to read the Latin, I think the Loeb edition is the only available complete text. It has a facing English translation (dating from the 1980s) which is pretty good – and helpful when Apuleius’ Latin gets complicated. This edition has a brief introduction and useful footnotes. I first got this edition in 1996, and I’ve reread it about seven or eight times since then. I would recommend this edition to anyone who wants to read an entertaining and fascinating story that is ancient but also modern.
This is the story of a young man, Lucius, who is insatiably curious and fascinated by the occult. He can’t keep his nose out of magic and rituals and witchcraft and whatnot. The result is that he finds himself turned into an ass (he was hoping to transform himself into an owl). On the night of his metamorphosis the house he is staying in is attacked by robbers. He is loaded up with loot and dragged off into the mountains to the robbers’ lair. While he is there he overhears the old woman who cooks and cleans for the robbers telling the story of Cupid and Psyche. That story takes up a large chunk of Volume I. It reads like a fairy tale with a beautiful princess, doting parents, wicked sisters, lots of ups and downs and – finally – love triumphant. On a philosophical level it could be an allegory, as in when Love meets Soul you get Pleasure. Something like that. Readers have spent nearly 2000 years arguing about the meaning of it all. Scholars have also built and demolished careers analysing The Golden Ass and wondering what Apuleius was getting at. Is it comedy? Is there a serious philosophical or religious message there? Is it “psychological”? Is it really a unified work or just a bunch of weird – and often bawdy – yarns? I reread it every few years and I still don’t get it, but I do find it just as much fun to read as I did when I was a teenager.
Apuleius himself was born in what is now Algeria in about 125CE. His native language was Punic and he learned Greek and Latin as second and third languages. His family were well off and he was able to travel a great deal. He also married money. At one point he worked as a lawyer in Rome. Later he seems to have been an academic and philosophy lecturer in Carthage. He claims to have written a vast amount of stuff, including plays and philosophical works in Greek and Latin. Unfortunately all his Greek works are lost and only a few of his Latin works survive. Metamorphoses is the most well-known of these. It is now generally regarded as an early example of the novel. I have two other Apuleius texts. One covers the story of Cupid and Psyche with a detailed introduction and notes. The other covers several stories that the narrator overhears and shows how ingenious – and cunning – Apuleius is as a storyteller. His Latin can be difficult but it’s often very beautiful and that beauty can be lost in translation. Apuleius wrote in what classicists call “African Latin”, which stands in relation to “standard Latin” like Irish English compared to British English. That is, just as many of the greatest writers of “English Literature” were Irish (Swift, Joyce, Yeats et al.), many of the greatest classical Latin writers were African (Tertullian, St Augustine of Hippo, Apuleius et al.). They take the Latin language to another level.
If you want to read the Latin, I think the Loeb edition is the only available complete text. It has a facing English translation (dating from the 1980s) which is pretty good – and helpful when Apuleius’ Latin gets complicated. This edition has a brief introduction and useful footnotes. I first got this edition in 1996, and I’ve reread it about seven or eight times since then. I would recommend this edition to anyone who wants to read an entertaining and fascinating story that is ancient but also modern.
March 8, 2025
Read book 4-6
Basically just “Cupid and Psyche”
Basically just “Cupid and Psyche”
October 23, 2025
I only read the Cupid and Psyche story but I’m logging this anyway LOL
July 30, 2019
It was of great benefit to read Books 1-6 of Apuleius in the magnificent translation of J. Arthur Hanson. For a practicing neo-platonist, or a kin to ancient folk by heart and spirit this books conveys many trophies with plots that could easily be turned into stanzas of quotable wisdom-literature. I'm preparing myself to read the second volume alongside with Fletcher's 'Apuleius' Platonism' which is an extremely interesting support-mechanism for fully and duly understanding Master Apuleius' thought.
September 20, 2025
This book is very funny. Also very lewd. Hard to tell in some places whether it should be considered as smut or satire. The plot is simple, but woven into many subnarratives with extreme cleverness. These range from the hilariously absurd witchcraft fable in book one, to the brilliant retelling of Cupid & Psyche. All is surrounded by a backdrop of what we might call "Roman realism" — poverty, slavery, animal cruelty, religious imposture, lots of crime — almost in the manner of a Dickens or Dostoyevsky albeit much less refined.
For example, there are some exceedingly fine passages in book nine (especially in the latin) of animals and slaves working to their deaths at a flour mill.
The last few chapters are worth reading alone for their insight into Graeco-Roman and Egyptian mystery cults — and the whole book is perhaps an induction into pagan fatalism.
For example, there are some exceedingly fine passages in book nine (especially in the latin) of animals and slaves working to their deaths at a flour mill.
The last few chapters are worth reading alone for their insight into Graeco-Roman and Egyptian mystery cults — and the whole book is perhaps an induction into pagan fatalism.
March 10, 2025
4⭐️
I've only re-read the story of Psyche and Eros (or rather, Cupid in this version) in order to freshen my memory while working on my retelling of the story.
The translation and the text are lovely to read.
I've only re-read the story of Psyche and Eros (or rather, Cupid in this version) in order to freshen my memory while working on my retelling of the story.
The translation and the text are lovely to read.
March 26, 2019
It was really good. I had to read the book for one of my university classes. I thought that it could do without all of the extra side stories at the end, but over all I really enjoyed it.
February 3, 2021
Great text but the translation differs somewhat from the Latin.
November 27, 2021
Només: Psique i Cupido.
Bonica història, tot i que escrita no m'ha acabat d'agradar tant
Bonica història, tot i que escrita no m'ha acabat d'agradar tant
December 8, 2021
PETER, IS YOUR SOCIAL WORKER IN THAT HORSE?
November 27, 2024
witty and entertaining - the best roman literature i've read so far
January 2, 2025
Excellent stories, but the pedastry that Apuleius has his characters display is disgusting. Definitely don't read all of the stories if that bothers you (which it probably should).
May 16, 2025
Read book 4-6
Basically just "Cupid and Psyche"
Basically just "Cupid and Psyche"
June 24, 2025
The best part was the story of Psyche and Cupid.
August 8, 2025
Cupid!!! And!!!! Psyche!!!!
September 28, 2025
Muy buenas descripciones de la vida cotidiana y de las historias fantásticas que se contaban pero quitando eso es una lectura bastante pesada.
November 23, 2025
read for my magic class, interesting to look at as a lens to examine the wider greco roman culture at the time. felt very much like a precursor to voltaires candide
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December 11, 2025Read this in Latin
January 11, 2021
Creative fantasy tale from the Roman 2nd century AD, in accessible, short books I-XI, translated from the Latin by J. Arthur Hanson.
Apuleius: “Pay attention, reader, and you will find delight.”
Apuleius: “Pay attention, reader, and you will find delight.”
April 29, 2015
I found this book an intermittently entertaining and impressive one, and its final chapter is a stunning one.
I'm no scholar of the various translations of this 2nd-century novel, but this one was done in the 15th century. The language is, as you would expect, rather dated. After reading for a bit, though, a reader adapts to it and might even enjoy it.
The basic story is that of the narrator, Lucius, who is turned into an ass through witchcraft. He ends up chaging hands between various owners, most of whom abuse him horribly. Through these various trials, Lucius overhears or bears witness to a wide range of tales. Some are comical; others tragic; and others are horrifying. The entire things reads a bit like a forebear of the Arabian Nights, being a single story tying together many other, completely unconnected, tales.
By far the best story is that of Cupid and Psyche, which alone is worth a reader's time. Though involving the typical elements of love, wrath, and vengeace of Greek gods, the pathos with which it is told is captivating. The other tales are a mixed bag, but several are entertaining in their ways, if not especially memorable. They do, however, set up the phenomenal final chapter, which amounts to a solemn religious epiphany by the protagonist. With vibrant prose, Apuleius describes Lucius's embracing of worship to the gods Isis and Osiris. I'm not sure, but it may actually be an extremely early inspiration to later works liek Cain's "The Postman Always Rings Twice" or Camus's "The Outsider/The Stranger."
I may not have loved every page of this book, but it's a good read with a few transcendant sections. It's hard to ask much more of a novel.
I'm no scholar of the various translations of this 2nd-century novel, but this one was done in the 15th century. The language is, as you would expect, rather dated. After reading for a bit, though, a reader adapts to it and might even enjoy it.
The basic story is that of the narrator, Lucius, who is turned into an ass through witchcraft. He ends up chaging hands between various owners, most of whom abuse him horribly. Through these various trials, Lucius overhears or bears witness to a wide range of tales. Some are comical; others tragic; and others are horrifying. The entire things reads a bit like a forebear of the Arabian Nights, being a single story tying together many other, completely unconnected, tales.
By far the best story is that of Cupid and Psyche, which alone is worth a reader's time. Though involving the typical elements of love, wrath, and vengeace of Greek gods, the pathos with which it is told is captivating. The other tales are a mixed bag, but several are entertaining in their ways, if not especially memorable. They do, however, set up the phenomenal final chapter, which amounts to a solemn religious epiphany by the protagonist. With vibrant prose, Apuleius describes Lucius's embracing of worship to the gods Isis and Osiris. I'm not sure, but it may actually be an extremely early inspiration to later works liek Cain's "The Postman Always Rings Twice" or Camus's "The Outsider/The Stranger."
I may not have loved every page of this book, but it's a good read with a few transcendant sections. It's hard to ask much more of a novel.
July 3, 2016
Originally, I obtained a copy to read the Cupid and Psyche myth in its entirety, I fell in love with the book. It you are a lover of myth and understand all the tidbits of ancient religious thought this is an absolute joy to read!!!
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February 12, 2011None
June 12, 2014
Some tout this as a "great" book. I find it gross. Lewd, nude and crude with a primitive (if any) morality, I can't figure why anyone would consider it "great" other than a great disappointment.
January 4, 2015
Quare Latino studere? Libros tales legere!
June 26, 2013
Charming shaggy dog story told in an ornate style. Regrettably drags when it breaks into plot.
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July 23, 2013Actually just read a portion - the story of Cupid and Psyche in books IV-VI.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews