The Golden Ass - Hardcover

Apuleius; Walsh, P. G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198149328 ISBN 13: 9780198149323

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1994

Synopsis

Apuleius's Golden Ass is a unique, entertaining, and thoroughly readable Latin novel--the only work of fiction in Latin to have survived from antiquity. It tells the story of the hero Lucius, whose curiosity and fascination for sex and magic results in his transformation into an ass. After suffering a series of trials and humiliations, he is ultimately transformed back into human shape by the kindness of the goddess Isis. Simultaneously a blend of romantic adventure, fable, and religious testament, The Golden Ass is one of the truly seminal works of European literature, of intrinsic interest as a novel in its own right, and one of the earliest examples of the picaresque. This new translation is at once faithful to the meaning of the Latin, while reproducing all the exuberance of the original.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Graves (1895-1985) was a poet, novelist, and translator.

Review

"An execllent introduction and an accurate...translation."--Jim Williams, SUNY at Genesco

"This translation deserves the highest praise. It is idiomatic whenever possible, clear and effective throughout; I am more impressed with it than with three others that I have sampled. The introduction is informative and balanced in judgment."--Philip F. O'Mara, Bridgewater College

"This is a good edition. The translation flows, the introduction is thorough."--Richard Mason, George Mason University

"[A] fresh, funny, evocative translation that captures Apuleius at his most uncanny."--W. Gardern Campbell, Mary washington College

"Walsh's new rendering--which on every page, improves upon the commonly used and dated translations of Jack Lindsay and Robert Graves--appears at a time when this ever popular novel is even more greatly appreciated by social historians for the window it provides on provincial life among real imperial subjects in the second century CE. This edition is enhanced by an excellent introduction, a select bibliography, explanatory notes, and an index and glossary of names....It should quickly become the obvious choice for Latin-less readers."--Religious Studies Review6R

"This translation is literal enough to come to a scholar's aid, and at the same time scholarly enough to use without embarrassment."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"P.G. Walsh has given us an excellent translation, contemporary without being too trendy, as well as a superb introduction that gives the historical, philosophical, and religious background of the work....Oxford's World's Classics has done it again, has produced a useful edition and superior translation of a work that has needed it for several generations."--CAES Newsletter

"Splendid volume, living up to the scholarly accuracy that makes the World's Classics series."--Professor John R. Lenz, Drew University

"OUP's decision to commission a new translation of Apuleius' novel by a scholar who has made a significant contribution to Apuleian studies is a welcome move. This is without doubt the translation I would prescribe for students studying the work in English."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"The best scholarly introduction and notes among the currently available paperback editions and a very high standard of accuracy in representing the Latin original."--Professor Robert Lamberton, Washington University

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198149328
• ISBN 13: 9780198149323
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 332