
The Golden Ass
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $20.68
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
David Timson
"In this hapless state I looked myself over and saw that I was now no bird, but an ass...."
In this ancient picaresque adventure, Lucius, an insatiably curious young man, finds himself transformed into a donkey after his fascination with black magic and witchcraft goes awry. While trapped in his new body, he becomes the property of thieves, farmers, cooks, soldiers, and priests, and observes the hypocrisy and ineptitude of Imperial Roman society. The Golden Ass is considered the only novel to survive the Roman period, and the earliest novel to survive complete in the Western literary tradition. It is brimming with slapstick humor and sexual escapades, and foreshadows later works by Boccaccio, Rabelais, Cervantes, and Chaucer, upon whom it was a direct influence.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©1998, 2004 Translation copyright, E.J. Kenney (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooksListeners also enjoyed...




















People who viewed this also viewed...


















Rich Kid fascinated with occult forces, gets more than he bargains for. They don’t make stories like this anymore. Wonderfully entertaining narrator.
2nd listen…still awesome.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wasn't what I expected....
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
relatable
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Hugely enjoyable
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In fact, it was Lewis who prompted me to listen to Apuleius. Last February I picked up his final novel, Till We Have Faces (1956), as a Daily Deal. Having learned that the book was written out of Lewis’ near-lifelong dissatisfaction with aspects of the story of Cupid and Psyche as told in The Golden Ass, I thought it would be a good idea to know that book first. Having just finished Till We Have Faces, it’s a course of action I can’t recommend too highly.
David Timson is, as always, spectacular. He doesn’t just read, he performs—and he has plenty to work with here. His Lucius is a charming, susceptible, morally obtuse young man who may—or may not—be a reformed character by the end; the final book has perplexed more adroit readers than me for the past 1,800 years.
Not Wiser…But Very Well Informed
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Nicely read
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very well read! Such expressive character voices!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Magnificent!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Awful translation
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.