Metamorphosis or The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius (c. 125 - 180) LibriVox
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The Metamorphosis, also known as The Golden Ass, is one of the very few novels of the Ancient World that survived to our days; one of the two novels of Roman Literature that we can still read; and the only one preserved in its entirety (the other one being the extremely fragmentary Satyricon).
The story of the Metamorphosis, the tale of a man turned into a donkey that goes through many adventures to become a man again, inspired many other similar ones later on. However, more than just the plot, the style of the Golden Ass also made it famous.
Considered one of the precursors of the picaresque novel, The Metamorphosis was written in a language that can be humorous and energetic, while telling the misadventures of the credulous and curious main character, but also powerfully poetic, in moments such as in the episode of Cupid and Psyche, one of the most famous parts of this book, and of Latin literature as a whole. (Summary by Leni)
Customer Reviews
A window into the Roman World
This is one of the few books that I feel like I always have to have a copy of in my library. It is at times hilarious, at other times really hard hitting. It’s social commentary at its best. The scene in the bakery is so intense, it’s still etched in to my mind 40 years after reading it.