Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Apuleius's The Golden Ass. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
The Golden Ass: Introduction
The Golden Ass: Plot Summary
The Golden Ass: Detailed Summary & Analysis
The Golden Ass: Themes
The Golden Ass: Quotes
The Golden Ass: Characters
The Golden Ass: Symbols
The Golden Ass: Theme Wheel
Brief Biography of Apuleius
Historical Context of The Golden Ass
Other Books Related to The Golden Ass
- Full Title: The Golden Ass
- When Written: Late 2nd century
- Where Written: Numidia (Northern Africa) in the Roman Empire
- When Published: Late 2nd century
- Literary Period: Classical Roman
- Genre: Picaresque Novel
- Setting: The Roman Empire (primarily in Greece)
- Climax: Lucius gets a vision from Isis telling him how to turn from a donkey back into a human.
- Antagonist: Lucius’s own greed and curiosity
- Point of View: First Person
Extra Credit for The Golden Ass
Same Old, Same Old. Though he may not have invented the proverb, Apuleius is the first known writer to record a version of the phrase “familiarity breeds contempt.”
Magical Realism. While it might seem like the magical elements in The Golden Ass are pure fantasy, there may have been some autobiographical inspiration. Many people in Apuleius’s time believed in some form of magic, and Apuleius himself was accused of using magic to win the affection of a wealthy widow. He was forced to defend himself in court, and this may partly explain why the character Lucius ends up working in a legal profession.