Metamorphosis or The Golden Ass

Lucius Apuleius

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(3.7 stars; 19 reviews)

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) (9 hr 55 min)