Post on 27-Jan-2023
The Metamorphoses of Apuleius
Micah ROSS18 April 2013HIST 404/504: Civilization of Ancient Rome
ReviewIntroduction to ApuleiusThe StoryMagic
A Brief ReviewPolitics
Year of Four Emperors (69)Instability
Vespasian (69—79)Destruction of Temple (70)
Domitian (81—96)Assassinated by court
Hadrian (117—138)Temple of Jupiter in Jerusalem
Social BackdropRoman Religion
Animism(Middle) Platonism “Scientific”
AnthropomorphicOlympiansNot Near East
State ReligionWhose state?Is do ut des scientific?
Social BackdropRoman Religion
Animism(Middle) Platonism “Scientific”
AnthropomorphicOlympiansNot Near East
State ReligionWhose state?Is do ut des scientific?
Social BackdropRoman Religion
Animism(Middle) Platonism “Scientific”
AnthropomorphicOlympiansNot Near East
State ReligionWhose state?Is do ut des scientific?
Historical BackdropApuleius (c. 120 –180)Biography
From Numidia (Algeria)Resembles “Lucian” of the MetamorphosesStudied in Carthage, Alexandria, Rome
MagicInitiate of Dionysius; priest of AesculapiusMarried a rich widow: charged with love spell
Literary careerSpeeches (including legal defense)Explanation of Plato; “demon” of SocratesParit enim conversatio contemptum, raritas conciliat admirationem
Apuleius and his MetamorphosesWhy you should care
Literary historyOnly complete Roman novel Pattern of Story-telling: Frame Story, PicaresqueFolklore, Pinocchio, and Kafka
Social historyMagicLower ClassesReligion
Bawdy, Lurid, Filthy
The Structure of MetamorphosesWhat to expect
Author travels to ThessalyReports the tales of travelling companions Role of family and friends in business and travel
In Thessaly, aunt objects to his friends“Befriends” a slave-girlPlaced on trial (similar to an initiation)
Slave-girl accidentally transforms narrator
Spell undone by eating rosesSearch for salvation
The Happy EndingMetamorphoses, not Metamorphosis
Syncretism of GodsRoman Civilization II:546
Procession of IsisRoman Civilization II:544
SalvationSpell undone by eating rosesEnables a happy lifeComparison with Salvation of Augustine
Who would oppose that?Promoted by Ptolemy I (Soter – “the saviour”)
In Rome by 286 B.C.Augustus : Sexually immoral!
Or did he just oppose Anthony?Tiberius crucified Isis worshippers
JosephusCaligula was an adherent
Dressed in women’s clothes?Opposition ended with Julio-Claudians
Focus on Judaism and Christianity
Historical Lessons
Isis Temple at PompeiiVisited by Mozart (The Magic Flute)
Archaeological recordFunerary inscription
Moral LessonsPaganism vs. Christianity
Emperor as “God”Common in Near EastDifferent conception of gods
Misfortune as contagionLittle sympathy“Good Samaritan”
Jokes based in humiliationHow common were foreign religions in Rome?
Immoral LessonsWhat kinds of magic are in Apuleius?
Types of magicTransformations (beauty, animals)Murder (heart, poison)Necromancy (talk with dead)Strange foreign religions (multi-cultural)
Magical connotationsOften inverts power structure (women, slaves)Object of magic open to ridicule
Appropriate Magic
Cato “On Farming”Roman Civilization I:474—479“Magic Words” – Oscan, Umbrian, Etruscan?Ignotum per ignotius
What is missing from Apuleius ?What kinds of magic are not in Apuleius?
Oneiromancy, various divinationsCurse tablets (defixiones)Magic wordsAstrology
Magic or science?Expelled from Rome in 33 B.C.Expelled from Italy in A.D. 16, 69, 89
Why?Upsets power structureIndefensible goals
Horoscopes
Positions of 7 planets and the horizonPositions = zodiacal signs
No astrological interpretationAstronomical document, not divination