The Golden Ass (Oxford World's Classics)
by Apuleius
List Price:
Our Price: $7.01
You Save: $5.94 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.08 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: ApuleiusTranslator: P. G. Walsh
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-15
ISBN: 0199540551
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of The Golden Ass (Oxford World's Classics)
Book Review: Long-Legged Beasties and Things that Go Bump in the Night
Summary: 5 Stars
We are very lucky to have Professor Walsh's witty and salty translation of Apuleius' second-century picaresque novel, "The Golden Ass." The only Roman novel to survive the ravages of time in its entirety, "The Golden Ass"--also called "Metamorphoses"--tells how a young Greek man of good family, through curiosity about magic and sex, becomes transformed into an ass in both the literal and the figurative senses of the word. The story, which abounds with tales within tales within tales that follow the crazy logic of dreams and nightmares, follows Lucius on his adventures in both his human and animal forms, as he wanders the Roman world, seeking the redemption through the goddess Isis, which will allow him to resume his human persona.
During the course of Lucius' asinine adventures, which he likens to an Odyssey-gone-wrong, he (and we through his donkey's eyes) encounters all manner of witches, robbers, pretty women, strumpets, and other wastrels, who usually threaten him, or lead him down false paths, deterring him from reaching his final destination. Then, in the midst of the sometimes violent madness of one of the robber's tales, Apuleius inserts the enchanting romance of Cupid and Psyche, a charming metaphor that reflects Lucius' own curiosity and preoccupations.
Apuleius' novel is more than an entertainment, however; despite the story's fantastic framework, it lends us insight into the customs, beliefs, superstitions, rituals, and the stories that entertained upper class readers of the Roman empire (Apuleius was a well-to-do Roman citizen of North Africa, who studied rhetoric in both Carthage and Athens). The very survival of "The Golden Ass" testifies to its readability. Indeed, the novel, which will often have one laughing out loud, has delighted readers through the ages, influencing the likes of Boccaccio, Chaucer, Shakespeare and Pre-Raphaelite artists, as well as us lesser mortals who appreciate reading one good story after another.
Tollete, legete, et gaudete!--Take, read, and enjoy!
Summary of The Golden Ass (Oxford World's Classics)
Apuleius's Golden Ass is a unique, entertaining, and thoroughly readable Latin novel--the only work of fiction in Latin to have 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 returned to human shape by the kindness of the goddess Isis. Simultaneously a blend of romantic adventure, fable, and religious testament, The Golden Ass is one of the truly seminal works of European literature, of intrinsic interest as a novel in its own right, and one of the earliest examples of the picaresque. This new translation is at once faithful to the meaning of the Latin, while reproducing all the exuberance of the original.About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Classics Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Classics Books
Native sonby Richard Wright
Perennial Library; Published: 1987; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Native Son: And How Bigger Was Bornby Richard Wright
Perennial; Published: 1993-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $60.00
Raphael and the Noble Taskby Catherine Salton
Harper; Published: 2000-10-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Island (Perennial Classics)by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.86
Price in other shops:
The Great Divorce CDby C. S. Lewis
HarperAudio; Published: 2003-11-25; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $12.77
Price in other shops:
Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
This Side of Paradiseby Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Black Coffee (Poirot)by Agatha Christie
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2002-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $68.32
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1960s)by Joan Didion
Flamingo; Published: 2001-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.25
Similar Books and other products
The Erotic Poems (Penguin Classics)by Ovid
Penguin Classics; Published: 1983-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.19
Price in other shops:
The Pot of Gold and Other Plays (Penguin Classics)by Plautus, E. F. Watling
Penguin Classics; Published: 1965-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
The Satyricon (Oxford World's Classics)by Petronius
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
Agricola and Germany (Oxford World's Classics)by Tacitus
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
The Satyricon and The Apocolocyntosis of the Divine Claudius (Penguin Classics)by Petronius, Seneca
Penguin Books; Published: 1986-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.85
Price in other shops:
The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Hist Atlas)by Chris Scarre
Penguin Group USA; Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1995-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Roman Lives (Oxford World's Classics)by Plutarch
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.13
Price in other shops:
The Aeneid (Penguin Classics)by Virgil
Penguin Classics; Published: 2010-12-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
As The Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social HistoryOxford University Press, USA; Published: 1998-01-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $47.99
Price in other shops:
Lives of the Caesars (Oxford World's Classics)by Suetonius
Spring Arbor/Ingram; Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops: