The Golden Ass by Apuleius: Magic and Rituals Theme
This theology paper is a review of an article that was authored by Apuleius (2nd century CE). The title of the book was “The Golden Ass,” a work referred to as Metamorphoses a young man who was changed by magic into an ass. The author of this article was named Lucius Apuleius who was born some period around c.124 CE and believed to have died around 170 CE. He was educated at Carthage and Athens and was a traveler who visited various places, especially in the Mediterranean region gain interest in that times religious initiation rites, one of them being the ceremonies that were associated with the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis. In Rome he taught rhetoric, then later returned to Africa where he married Aemilia Pudentilla, a rich widow, whom he had practiced some magic in order to win her affection. In his book The Golden Ass it is believed that he used materials from the Metamorphoses by Lucius Parte, as cited as some sources with similar themes to those present in his book[1]. Entirely in his book, he presents works of fiction and description of the ancient religious mysteries and restoration of Lucius from animal to human shape. The original copy of this book was written in Latin, but later translated into English by various scholars, one of them being Adlington, William (trans.) in 1566, and became one of World Class Oxford Classics translation.
Apuleius’s Golden Ass stands out as one of the readable Latin Novels written in the 2nd century CE. It is one of the common withstand fiction belonging to the Latin fiction that has survived till to date. This is a story with various books that tell about Lucius's curiosity and fascination for sex and magic results in the transformation into an ass[2]. The novel starts with book one which presents Lucius’s journeys to Hypata in Thessaly, where he is introduced to magic and witchcraft, and following his curiosity, he is intrigued into the cultural practices, which transforms him into an ass. The story about travel and witchcraft is explained from the first to the third book. While in this town Lucius, one night he is drunk and he is taken on a fake trial, during the same time he starts sleeping with Photis, a maid whom she requests to allow him to watch the magic[3]. This makes him behaves as an animal and Photis urges him to eat roses just like an animal, more so, he receives other treatments that fully give him an animal personality. Some call him an insect, he is even beaten up by young women and dragged to exhaustion. Lucius also tells us the story of the beautiful woman, Cupid who is isolated from her family, and according to prophesy she would get married to a monster. However, the god of love intervenes and she would marry Psyche, his beloved object. This was a relief from the goddess Venus after severe tribulations and hostility, which receives intervention from the kings of the gods, Jupiter giving the young couples back their union.
Additionally, Lucius continuous to receive more challenges in his adventure. He is sold to the priests, where is almost cooked and served, which he escapes as during this time of the attack by the bear he is so sick and everyone gets afraid of him. Even though he starts eating human food and becomes a celebrity, he is treated like an ass that eats human foods. The climax is reached when he looks at a wealthy woman, who pays to have sex with him, for this case the master decides that the sex play will be done in public at his three-day carnival. However, towards the end of the story Lucius receives salvation, he falls on deep sleep, and when he wakes up, and he offers a prayer to Isis, who comes to him telling him what he should do to become human again. Lucius is given instructions by a procession that comes celebrating Isis, he goes to the priest, eats some roses, and returns to human form. From this time he confesses to devote his life to serve Isis, and becomes one of her priests, he joins a cult and started entering the cult of Osiris. Throughout this novel a lot of themes that are related to religion and theology, some of the outstanding themes that have been presented include gender and sexuality, mystery religion, fate and salvation, magic and rituals, among many others, however, in this essay, the discussion will revolve around the theme of magic and rituals.
In this text, there are various actions that portray magic and rituals, most embarked on religion. In common aspects, magic is seen as witches and dangerous dark arts that might harm, obscure, and encourage various forms of corruption, however, the sense of Christianity as evidenced in Isis and Osiris provides hope for a healthy life and sustaining good morals. More so, Apuleius uses magic and transformation themes to present various occasions that were used for punishing wrongdoers[4]. In this text, there are pieces of evidence of magicians and witches, who have been said to possess the power to cast spells, concocted potions, and also perform rituals. An excellent example that can be pinpointed is when he selects the wrong ointment, which attracts a punishment, he turns into an ass. The contradiction in this time was that people could not differentiate between religion and magic, until the 4th century when Greek philosophers started the move to remove some practices from religious activity. In the ancient perspective, it was believed that the world was full of divine force, in the execution of these forces the magicians used the language of the mystery rites and complex processes of initiation and laws that were kept private. A critical example of a magic occasion is when Lucius is said to have been turned into an animal as well as the case of male magicians who could transform himself into a wolf.
Furthermore, there occasions in the story that portray the theme of rituals. Throughout the novel, many are times when we are told about the goddess, Isis, cults, and Osiris. Also, involving practices that were between people and gods aimed at intervention towards human life. The gods are also said to take care of people who in turn build shrines and temples from where they worshiped him or her. The story reveals the reason for union with the divine and immortal life, where people believed in the rites of redemption, salvation, death, and life after death. During this time Isis gained various followers Lucius being one of them that led to the growth of cult in the Rome. There are various occasions in the story that represents rites and rituals present in the roman community, they believed in the rite of marriage, Cupid is betrothed to marry a winged monster[5]. In the efforts to understand where the husband would come from she was taken from the mountain top to the valley and a spending home where the new husband would come from. In these rituals, there is a supreme god known as Jupiter who intervenes in difficult situations.
Additionally, the story also tells us about a community that feeds on human beings, who do wrong. A case is when Lucius is falsely accused of killing Tlepolemus, he escapes being fed on only because that day he was sick and people were afraid of him. Besides, their various instances that portray the rituals related to worship, people in this area worship Venus, the goddess of love, who is said to suffer when people neglect the rite and temples of the genuine goddess. After various encounters of struggle, torture, and exhaustion Lucius finds salvation, the salvation comes as he practices the prayer ritual to the Isis, referred to as the great goddess[6]. When the followers of Isis hear of this they come in huge numbers perform a celebration ritual to their goddess, and instruct him. He is directed to a priest with roses, he eats them and therefore becomes and a man again. The procession gets shocked by this transformation and gives praises to Isis, consequently, Lucius, devotes his life wholly to serve this goddess as a priest, joining the cults and enters the Osiris Cult.
Bibliography
Costantini, Leonardo. Magic in Apuleius’› Apologia‹: Understanding the charges and the forensic strategies in Apuleius’ speech. Vol. 373. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2019.
Gaisser, J.H., 2017. Cupid and Psyche. A Handbook to the Reception of Classical Mythology, pp.337-351.
Gély, Véronique. "Apuleius and The Golden Ass: Latin Novel, Universal Folktale, or Emblem of Globalized Literature?." A Companion to World Literature (2020): 1-11.
Gray-Weale, Margaret. "Dante and Lucius Apuleius in Alex Miller's' journey to the stone country'." Metaphor (2019).
Juraj, Franek, and Urbanová Daniela. "“As Isis Loved Osiris, So Let Matrona Love Theodoros...”: Sympathetic Magic and Similia Similibus Formulae in Greek and Latin Curse Tablets (Part 2)." Philologia Classica 14, no. 2 (2019).
Lewis, E., 2020. Duped by an ass: Revisiting the chronology of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. Ancient Narrative, pp.37-59.
[1] Gély, Véronique. "Apuleius and The Golden Ass: Latin Novel, Universal Folktale, or Emblem of Globalized Literature?." A Companion to World Literature (2020): 1-11.
[2] Gray-Weale, Margaret. "Dante and Lucius Apuleius in Alex Miller's' journey to the stone country'." Metaphor (2019).
[3] Lewis, E., 2020. Duped by an ass: Revisiting the chronology of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. Ancient Narrative, pp.37-59.
[4] Costantini, Leonardo. Magic in Apuleius’› Apologia‹: Understanding the charges and the forensic strategies in Apuleius’ speech. Vol. 373. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2019.
[5] Gaisser, J.H., 2017. Cupid and Psyche. A Handbook to the Reception of Classical Mythology, pp.337-351.
[6] Juraj, Franek, and Urbanová Daniela. "“As Isis Loved Osiris, So Let Matrona Love Theodoros...”: Sympathetic Magic and Similia Similibus Formulae in Greek and Latin Curse Tablets (Part 2)." Philologia Classica 14, no. 2 (2019).
