The Transformation of Lucius

The Transformation of Lucius otherwise known as The Golden Ass
By: Lucius Apuleius, Translated (1950) by Robert Graves, Revised (1990) by Michael Grant
Written: 2nd Century A.D.

Lucius Apuleius' The Golden Ass tells the tale of a young man named Lucius and the many misfortunes that befall him after he is turned into a Donkey after meddling with a witches spells. As an Ass Lucius is past from one set of owners to another and is witness to many tales, the most famous being the mythical story of Cupid and his wife Pysche. Most of these tales involve magic and sex, usually the adulterous kind. These storys of magic and lust always come with a body count attached to them as the perpitrators (usually some wicked woman) meet a bloody end for there misdeeds. Well most casual readers well probably never read Apuleius, The Golden Ass, is full of amusing tales, and readers interested in just how different the Roman world of the 2nd Century was in terms of morals (if the book had been written in the present there would be protests and crys of obsenity). Bottomline, the casual reader well want to pass this one up but more jaded readers should look it up, along with anyone interested in the Roman Empire.

*** out of ****