The Golden Ass
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The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as The Golden Ass, is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety.
Title page from John Price's Latin edition of Apuleius' novel Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass (Gouda, Netherlands, 1650)
Lucius takes human form, in a 1345 illustration of the Metamorphoses (ms. Vat. Lat. 2194, Vatican Library).
Lucius spies Milo's wife transforming into a vulture. Illustration by Jean de Bosschère
Charitë embraces Tlepolemus while Lucius looks on. From an illustration by Jean de Bosschère
Picaresque novel
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The picaresque novel is a genre of prose fiction that depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt society. Picaresque novels
The Golden Ass
…παστοφόρος) that he might serve the mysteries of Osiris and Isis. Lucius is so happy that he goes about freely exposing his bald head. Similar to other picaresque novels, The Golden Ass features several shorter stories told by characters encountered by the protagonist. Some act as independent short stories, while others…
Title page of the book Guzmán de Alfarache (1599)