The Entertaining Function of Magic and Mysteries in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses - ICAN 2015 - Houston TX (original) (raw)

Abstract

As Apuleius explains at the very outset of his Metamorphoses, the professed purpose of the oeuvre is to entertain his readership by means of marvellous accounts: he writes that the tales (fabulae) of his book will leave the reader in amazement (ut mireris) while describing the transformation of men who change their physical appearance and return again to their prior outlook. The story of Lucius – the protagonist of the Metamorphoses – is, in fact, characterised by a physical transformation into a donkey provoked by his dabbling in Thessalian magic (3,24). This inauspicious metamorphosis causes him a long series of misfortunes before he can take back his human form by means of Isis’ divine intervention (11,13), which leads Lucius towards the initiation into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris (11,23-25; 11,28-30). In this study I shall focus on magic and the mysteries in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses and, by using evidence from other ancient novels and from Apuleius’ Apologia, I will argue that these are literary motifs conforming to the author’s intention as explained in the prologue: lector, intende: laetaberis (‘reader, pay attention: you shall be amused’).

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