A study of the genesis of the interpretative tradition relating to Apuleius' Metamorphoses Read More
The interpretive topics of Apuleius' Metamorphoses are based on the specific problems that the work poses for the critic: that of the contrast, real or apparent, that it presents with the personality of its author; that of the genre to which it claims to belong; that of the source from which it emanates; that of the work of composition that Apuleius engaged in by imitating a Greek work; and that, which encompasses them all, of the intention that he pursued by indulging in such an apparently futile exercise. This is why I have chosen to present this history of the interpretation of the Metamorphoses along three major lines: that of the meaning of the work, which is structured around the two paradigms of playfulness and/or seriousness; that of the origin of this story of the donkey and the genre it claims to belong to, the Latin Milesian; and that of Apuleius' narrative art and the mode of composition, unitary or episodic, of this tale in several books.