Golden Ass Essay -- Apuleius Roman Literature Mythology Papers

Golden behindApuleius Golden Ass, the only surviving novel of the Roman Empire, is a narration of a Greek nobleman devoting his life to the goddess Isis following his transformation to an behind and back. Although a work of fiction, the novel reveals a great deal close to trust in Apuleius society. This information, however, must be viewed with a critical eye. He incorporates stories from Greco-Roman mythology not to affirm their validity, but to reveal their commonness to society. Apuleius insults different religions that are not of the Pantheon with severe viciousness, while the general public whitethorn have been more open to them. In the end, he praises Isis and Osiris as the ultimate gods while giving first hand account of their righteousness. Overall, Apuleius view of religion cannot be trusted.From the very start we see Apuleius using references to Roman myths as similes to everyday occurrences. When Fotis, the slave, enters his bedroom to make love to him, he re marks that she stood, transformed into a living statue the Love-goddess rising from the sea. The flushed hand with which she pretended to screen her dupe of Venus showed that she was well aware of the resemblance certainly it was not held on that point from modesty. He describes a slave girl trying to seduce him as Venus rising out of the sea. Some of this description may be a hyperbole for Lucius love of Fotis. However, Apuleius goes beyond this by linking Fotis directly to Venus. Thus, the some beautiful goddess in the Pantheon is easily seen in a slave girl. Similarly, Thelyphron, when coitus the story how members of a household invadeed him, describes himself as feeling like genus Adonis mauled by the wild boar, or Orpheus torn in pieces by the Thracian women. This... ...ddess. To prove his point, Apuleius first discounts all other worships. Throughout the novel he describes things that happen to individuals in terms of the traditional Greco-Roman myths. He subt ly chips away at the traditional Roman gods, avoiding a direct attack on the Pantheon because the vast majority of his audience believed in it. If he attacked them directly, he would surely not be considered credible. With the other religions, however, Apuleius reserves nothing. He declares religions of Asia excusable to be fraudulent and calls monotheistic religions blasphemous. After questioning the other religions, Apuleius goes on to praise the worship of Isis. As a result, we the contemporary reader cannot infer too much about Roman religion from The Golden Ass. deeds CitedApuleius. The Golden Ass. Trans. Robert Graves. Noonday Press, 1998. ISBN 0-374-50532-2.