Apuleius' Invisible Ass

Encounters with the Unseen in the Metamorphoses

Geoffrey C. Benson

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781108475556
• eBook ISBN: 9781108621373
• Topic: Historia
• Subtopic: Historia antigua

Apuleius' Metamorphoses (or The Golden Ass), a masterpiece of Latin literature from the second century AD, still captivates modern readers with its combination of asininity and mysticism. In the novel, a young man named Lucius tells how he accidentally turns into a donkey and then describes how he regains human form with the help of the Egyptian goddess Isis, into whose cult he is initiated. This book argues that invisibility is one of the central motifs in the Metamorphoses and, in the process, presents a new interpretation of Apuleius' novel as a visionary, esoteric text. It contributes both to the study of the subtle relationship between literature and Platonic philosophy and to the cultural history of invisibility in classical antiquity and beyond.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction: Uncovering the Unseen in Apuleius
• Chapter 1 Apuleius’ Daemonic Voice
• Chapter 2 Invisible Man: Lucius, Gyges, and the Ethics of the Metamorphoses
• Chapter 3 Invisibility and the Structure of Reality in Cupid and Psyche
• Chapter 4 Scattered Limbs and Gleaming Bones: The Symbolism and Metaphysics of Fragmented Bodies in the Metamorphoses
• Chapter 5 Apprehending the Egyptian Gods: Focalization and Mysticism in Book 11
• Chapter 6 The Power of the Metamorphoses
• Bibliography
• Index