Saturday, April 4, 2009

The Golden Ass

I have started reading the Golden Ass, the last book we are reading for this class. As I read through it I am totally entranced by the story it has to tell. The story is mainly a story about Lucius and his adventures after he is accidently turned into an ass. However, woven throughout the story there are many other interesting and engaging stories.

Lucius is a natural story teller and so he latches on and relates the stories of others that he comes across. Each story has its own magic and its own lessons to relate. It reminds me of Ovid. It really is a collection of stories like Ovid and it is just as enjoyable of a read as Ovid was.

My favorite story so far, though, is the story of Lucius himself. His misfortune in turning into an ass is comical and his subsquent adventures all have lessons in them. The term that comes to mind is in fact, metempsychosis. Seeing what happens to Lucius when he is in the form of an ass, shows people that you need to be careful who you are abusing. None of the people know that the ass the are abusing is in fact a human and i'm sure if they knew that they would have treated him slightly differently. I guess it shows you just have to be careful what you are doing and treat every living being with the respect that you would show a fellow human being.

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