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The first three chapters of this book elucidate the scholastic goals ofboth classical cultures during the Roman Imperial period. Apuleius' worksshare the stage in these chapters with representatives of the second-centuryGreek cultural paradigm. They define patterns of discourse and fit selectedexamples of analogous Apuleian strategies into the broader cultural framework.Subsequent chapters focus closely on the complete Apuleian corpus under thegeneral headings of Apuleius in the roles of orator, philosopher and novelist.Two of Apuleius' philosophical works and his novel the Golden Assprovide an unparalleled opportunity to analyze the methods of translation andadaptation employed by the major Latin writer of the second half of the secondcentury. ... Read more

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Thomas Taylor's books are highly sought after because of his remarkable ability to translate seeming obscure texts into understandable gems of light. "Apuleius, the celebrated author of the following works, is undoubtedly the greatest of the ancient Latin Platonists. He is not to be classed among the chief of the disciples of Plato, yet he will always maintain a very distinguished rank among those who have delivered to us the more accessible parts of that philosophy with consummate eloquence. The most important parts of the Metamorphosis, I feel, are the fable of Cupid and Psyche, and the eleventh book, in which Apuleius gives an account of his being initiated in the mysteries of Isis and Osiris. I call these the most important parts, because in the former, it appears to me, the very ancient dogma of the pre-existence of the human soul, its lapse from the intelligible world to the earth, and its return from thence to its pristine state of felicity, are most accurately and beautifully adumbrated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Metaphysical Must Have
This book although close to two millenia old, could have been written today. Its just as relevant today as when it was written. The book is significant in that it does a good job in giving the reader an understanding of what the physical plane of existence is all about. The protagonist is transformed to an ass and through the eyes of the ass sees the world and experiences the world within those limitations. Thru cruelty, perversion, abuse and other misadventures, the formerly well placed narrarator experiences life in a very unique way. The tale then deals with his eventual retransformation to his normal human self and then there is an exposition of the ancient mystery rites. The treatment of the mysteries is broad stroke but interesting tidbits are revealed. I love Taylors works, and even given the dated writting style I much prefer this version. I savored reading this one! ... Read more

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That meme or pop-up or spam - you know the one - it's everywhere on the internet. It urges men to enlarge a certain body part. But really - who or what kind of man would buy into that nonsense?The narrator of "The Transformations," for one. He applies Onan's Enlarging Ointment to himself and promptly turns into a donkey. Our foolish narrator is then raked across a pile of intriguing and entertaining encounters including lockdown at the zoo, bizarre sex, friendship with a drunken elephant, eco-terrorism, semi-slavery by pious religious communards, sea voyages, depraved tourists, drug pirates and other magically or demonically inspired bi-peds. The novel is an obvious homage to Apuleius' "the Golden Ass" while offering a modern, magical realist story of imagination in vivacious and witty prose.Blue Guitar Press invites you to enjoy Dex Quire's world of wonders and transformations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The perfect antidote to boring current offerings!
Frightening premise, a young man turned into a donkey and shuttled around the hemisphere as chattel of religious cults gone wrong!

This modernized version of The Golden As* of Apuleius is hilarious and touching.

A wild mixture of magic, sex, marijuana, travel and adventure. His ship borne gastronomical excesses alone are worth the price of the book.

"Apuleyo returned in the early afternoon. Any doubts I had about our ability to communicate in Spanish were obliterated by what he held in his hands. Not only did he bring me my original order but he produced a side dish of delicately fluted curried Dungeness crab tacos garnished with small braised vegetables and sauteed morels resting in a bed of eggplant topped with lemon-basil-garlic sauce. I tried to mind my manners and not just scoop everything up like a brainless poofing fish sucking in algae. But I did. Scoop it up, that is. "Te Gusto?" (Did you like it?) Apuleyo asked. Did I like it? I actually felt stoned and I swayed to the sea with my eyes closed. Slowly, slowly I recovered from the pleasure of being bombed with such acute flavors." -pg. 110

Dex Quire's first novel is a tour de force, I'm hoping they'll make a movie out of this.

Kudos, Dex.

A reader in Rainy Seattle

Great first novel!
I happened upon this book, read the first few pages and was hooked. Hilarious story of a dead beat 20-something who gets turned into a ribald donkey.

This donkey has a set of adventures that take him from the Seattle zoo to rural Mexico via some stops including the most ridiculous donkey basketball game.(It turns out that there really is such a thing.)

Most importantly, it is beautifully written, hugely creative, and...well....literary!

At first I thought the book was headed in the direction of a certain kind of magic realism and abstraction along the lines of some of our Latin American writers.Instead, it stayed completely accessible.

Clever, funny, completely absurd.

The perfect antidote to boring modern literature
Frightening premise, a young man turned into a donkey and shuttled around the hemisphere as chattel of religious cults gone wrong!

This modernized version of The Golden As* of Apuleius is hilarious and touching.

A wild mixture of magic, dope, travel and adventure. His ship borne gastronomical excesses alone are worth the price of the book.

"Apuleyo returned in the early afternoon. Any doubts I had about our ability to communicate in Spanish were obliterated by what he held in his hands. Not only did he bring me my original order but he produced a side dish of delicately fluted curried Dungeness crab tacos garnished with small braised vegetables and sauteed morels resting in a bed of eggplant topped with lemon-basil-garlic sauce. I tried to mind my manners and not just scoop everything up like a brainless poofing fish sucking in algae. But I did. Scoop it up, that is. "Te Gusto?" (Did you like it?) Apuleyo asked. Did I like it? I actually felt stoned and I swayed to the sea with my eyes closed. Slowly, slowly I recovered from the pleasure of being bombed with such acute flavors." -pg. 110

Dex Quire's first novel is a tour de force, I'm hoping they'll make a movie out of this.

Kudos, Dex, will there be a sequel?

A reader in Rainy Seattle ... Read more

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. (Franz Steiner 1997) ... Read more

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Contents Include: Adlington's Translation - The xi Bookes of the Golden Asse, Conteininge the Metamorphosie of Lucius Apuleius- The Golden Ass of Apuleius with an Introduction by Charles Whibley - The Golden Ass, Introduction by Thomas Seccombe - The Golden Ass, Adlington's Translation revised by S. Gaselee ... Read more

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This book is a response to the literary pleasures and scholarly problems of reading the texts of Apuleius, most famous for his novel Metamorphoses or Golden Ass. Living in second-century North Africa, Apuleius was more than an author of fiction; he was a consummate orator and professional intellectual, Platonist philosopher, extraordinary stylist, relentless self-promoter, and versatile author of a remarkably diverse body of work, much of which is lost to us. This book is written for those able to read Apuleius in Latin, and Apuleian works are accordingly quoted without translation (although where they exist suitable translations have been indicated). In this book Dr Harrison has provided a literary handbook to all the works of Apuleius as well as the Metamorphoses, and has set his works against their intellectual background: not only Apuleius' career as a performing intellectual, a sophist, in second-century Roman NorthAfrica, but also the larger contemporary framework of the Greek Second Sophistic. While focusing primarily on the texts as literature and literary-historical, the book also deals with Apuleius' works of didactic philosophy and his consequent connection with Middle Platonism. ... Read more

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Is Cupid and Psyche a romance, a folktale, a Platonic allegory of the nature of the soul, a Jungian tale of individuation, or an archetypal dream? This volume provides Joel Relihan's lively translation of this best known section of Apuleius' "Golden Ass", some useful and illustrative parallels, and an engaging discussion of what to make of this classic story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Heavy dose of Jung with your Greek Mythology
The first part of the book is a retelling of the story of Eros and Psyche as originally told by Apileius. The story is familiar to most followers of Greek/Roman mythology - Psyche is a beautiful princess, Eros falls in love with her, but will not allow her to see him. She is tricked into doing so, then undergoes a series of trials to regain his heart.

The second part of the book is a commentary using Jungian psychology and archetypes to discuss the deeper meanings of the myth. It is a very heavy read, but worth the effort - particularly if the reader has familiarization with Jungian thought. Not for the faint of heart...

Heavy dose of Jung with your Greek Mythology
The first part of the book is a retelling of the story of Eros and Psyche as originally told by Apileius. The story is familiar to most followers of Greek/Roman mythology - Psyche is a beautiful princess, Eros falls in love with her, but will not allow her to see him. She is tricked into doing so, then undergoes a series of trials to regain his heart.

The second part of the book is a commentary using Jungian psychology and archetypes to discuss the deeper meanings of the myth. It is a very heavy read, but worth the effort - particularly if the reader has familiarization with Jungian thought. Not for the faint of heart... ... Read more