The Golden Ass: The Transformations of Lucius

"The Golden Ass" by Apuleius is a work of fiction in Latin which has survived from antiquity. It tells the story of the hero Lucius, whose curiosity and fascination for sex and magic results in his transformation into an ass. After suffering a series of trials and humiliations, he is ultimately transformed back into human shape by the kindness of the goddess Isis. Simul taneously a blend of romantic adventure, fable, and religious testament, "The Golden Ass" is one of the truly seminal books of European literature, and one of the earliest examples of the picaresque. It includes as its most famous centrepiece the myth of Cupid and Psyche, the search of the human soul for union with the divine. This translation is at once faithful to the meaning of the Latin, whilst reproducing all the exuberant gaiety and liveliness of the original.