Apuleio
Le Metamorfosi

Tch, Tch, Tch...DeBaser & DeBaseriani, you ignore the classical world! Remember? The Gods, Zeus, Aphrodite, the temples, the Oracles, the Emperors, Magna Graecia... Well, here, little is mentioned about the great Greek/Roman literary production which, euphemistically, must be carefully considered to understand all subsequent written tradition.

I will speak of Lucius Apuleius, from Madauros, wishing myself that at least a small percentage of DeBaser's numerous reviewers and critics might know of this illustrious personality. However, a small "refreshing" introduction is necessary.

Apuleius is certainly a turning point in ancient Roman literature: first of all, he is counted among the last great "pagan" authors in Latin, having lived in the 2nd century AD, the Golden Century of the various Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius. By the end of this glorious era, in conjunction with the Crisis of the Third Century and the Military Anarchy, the history of Latin literature underwent a drastic change in style and themes, particularly caused by the nascent neo-Christian production of Tertullian, Cyprian, and others.

Apuleius' work, then, represents a rare example of "novel" written in Ancient Rome (another excellent example is the "Satyricon" by Petronius, which even precedes it), and survives in its entirety. This fact provides important considerations: the completeness with which the work has reached us may signify that the author was not "ignored" in the late ancient and medieval periods—a fate that befell "colleagues" whose works detailed thematically "scandalous" topics in the eyes of early inquisitive Christianity (the fragmentation of the "Satyricon," in which Petronius narrated the peregrinations and erotic adventures of the homosexual and unfaithful Encolpius and Giton, was destined to oblivion already in the early medieval period when written production declined dramatically).

The plot of "The Metamorphoses," divided into eleven books, focuses on the character of the young Lucius, who arrives in Thessaly (traditionally considered a land of magic and mysteries) at the home of the wealthy Milo and his wife Pamphile. Equipped with dangerous curiosity, Lucius, thanks to the friendship he forms with the maid Photis, witnesses Pamphile's transformation into an owl, achieved through a potent ointment. The audacious Photis assists the young man in experimenting with this wondrous product on himself; however, she uses the wrong ointment, causing Lucius to transform into a donkey.

The tragedy of the incorrect metamorphosis should only be reversed by a meal of roses by the unfortunate man, who, unfortunately, fails to resolve this issue in time, being kidnapped by a band of terrible and fearsome bandits/brutes, with whom he experiences the most absurd adventures, often descending into the grotesque and laughable, passing into the possession of various personalities, priests, a miller, a gardener, a soldier, two brothers, a cook, and a pastry chef. Having escaped from the last owner, Lucius/Donkey, through a prayer to the Moon, manages to regain human form by chewing the roses of a votive crown to the goddess Isis, who had guided the animal in this act. The final metamorphosis into a man leads Lucius to eternal gratitude towards the Goddess, initiating himself in her name and assuming the role of a genuine priest, ready to propagate her cause in Rome.

From the ancient novel, one quickly draws an initial consideration: the role of religion in antiquity, more precisely during the period between imperial stabilization and its crisis, that is, between the extreme elevation of the Roman State Religion, mainly intended to guarantee the "faithful" purely material satisfactions and pseudo-certainties, never to satisfy intimate moral needs, and the crisis caused by the proliferation of mystical oriental cults and, mainly, by the prevailing Christianity, which, with its preaching of universal equality—a value completely unknown to the Ancients, implicit advocates and supporters of slavery and maximum individual divergences—provided, especially to the poor masses, a moral and spiritual "consolation" for their condition, filling the deep void left by a multi-deity Confession little dedicated to morality and spirit. Apuleius is certainly influenced by the initial crisis of the official faith of Rome, of the classical Gods, perhaps even by Christianity, which in the Middle Eastern lands of Africa (Carthage), Asia Minor (Ephesus, Pergamum), and Syria (Antioch), experienced its first expansion and diffusion. The author, however, delves into themes related to the proliferation of oriental mysticisms in the imperial territory, especially deriving from the land of Egypt, such as the cult of Isis, Osiris, Mithras. In the work, the protagonist, aided by curiosity, positive but also negative, clearly intends to seek something beyond the mere execution of little spiritual civil rites, that engages the individual's inner self, their morality, that satisfies concrete spiritual needs, through a completely new and innovative spiritual abstraction. A spiritual abstraction that, however, would reward the confession in Christ, a real revolution with the ancient polytheistic tradition. A faith that helps to prevent, if not banish, the evils of society, symbolized in the work by the terrible tormentors of the poor donkey.

Significantly, the author reports in the pages of his magnum opus the individual desire for more intimate beliefs closer to the believer, the same that begins to question the meaning of Evil, suffering, and Death. "The Metamorphoses - The Golden Ass" validly provides, through an engaging narration, an alternative to the official Gods, through an escape towards the oriental mystical, to which the interested party must undergo initiation, an official entry. Apuleius, however, does not illegitimize and completely discard the classic Deities; he reduces them to beings with little spirituality, capricious, vindictive, and touchy, the same profile that Homer and other authors provided of their Gods: here, however, the break from the ancient literary tradition is clear, the classic Deities are too "human" and barely differ from them in terms of behavior. They seem to exploit their condition of immortality and absolute discretion over humans, not responding to their real needs, now directed at something deeper and otherworldly; they want an ascetic experience, a fulfilling abstraction attentive to their moral and ethical needs. Apuleius and his novel become bearers of these new needs.

Also notable is the presence of minor stories and fables within the work, conceived as "pauses" or even "foreshadowings" of the recounted adventures: the most famous concerns the tale of "Cupid and Psyche," told to Charite, a girl kidnapped along with the donkey by bandits, by an old guardian intent on calming the young woman's despair in the grip of panic over her unfortunate fate. "Cupid and Psyche" introduces a beautiful young girl, Psyche indeed, the youngest daughter of a King, still unmarried but of such exalted beauty to be called "Venus" by the numerous suitors. The Goddess, however, jealous of the young girl, sends her son Cupid/Love so that, as punishment for her innocent charm, she will be married off to the ugliest man on Earth. Fate, however, induces Cupid's love for Psyche, and they experience an unusual romantic relationship. She cannot, however, see the face of the passionate lover.

The two sisters, also envious of the young girl, urge Psyche to see the face of the mysterious lover: having committed such an offense to the God, she is distanced by him. Desperate, she attempts suicides promptly thwarted by the Gods; finally, she asks Venus to atone for the offense she committed against her son. A series of complex trials and their overcoming finally allow Psyche to regain romance with Love/Cupid and even achieve immortality and ascension to Divinity.

Apuleius has crafted in a world still devoted to metaphysical ideals and visions a masterpiece of Roman and ancient history itself, succinctly summarizing the social situation of the Empire on the eve of the great cataclysm due to Christianity: it is the last great pagan work, at the same time the first significant example of spiritual/moral change ever transported into a literary context.