Apuleius, Lucius

Apuleius, Lucius (c. 125-c. 170), Roman philosopher and writer, born in Madaros, Numidia (present-day Algeria). His father was a wealthy magistrate. Apuleius (Appuleius) studied in Carthage at a noted school of literature. He then went to Athens, were he studied philosophy. Apuleius travelled extensively and went to Rome in about 150 to practise law. About 155 he married a wealthy but plain middle-aged woman whose relatives accused him of having employed magic to gain her affections. His defence, later published as the Apologia and still extant, was an eloquent and successful vindication of his conduct. He thereafter devoted himself to literature and oratory. His popularity was so great that Carthage and other cities erected statues to him.

The novel Metamorphoses or Golden Ass, a Latin romance in eleven books, is his most outstanding work, the most famous of the tales being the story of Cupid and Psyche. The principal character, Lucian, is accidentally transformed by magic into an ass and only after many vicissitudes does he recover his human form by eating roses in the hands of a priest of the Egyptian goddess Isis. The Metamorphoses, often regarded as a satire on the vices of the age and a possible allegory of human life, extensively influenced the works of later writers, such as Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollett, and Giovanni Boccaccio. Apuleius had the exceptional gift of accurate and vivid observation of details, and his stories give an extremely realistic portrayal of his times.