The Ass of the Gods: Apuleius’ Golden Ass, the Onos Attributed to Lucian, and Graeco-Roman Metamorphosis Literature

Apuleius' Golden Ass and the Lucianic Loukios, or the Ass depend on and play with readers' familiarity with the clear patterns of Greek and Roman stories of metamorphosis. The formulaic nature of these stories suggests that the appearance of a god at the end of the Golden Ass is unsurprising and that the end of the Loukios is more innovative. This context also sheds new light on the function of the Cupid and Psyche story, the meaning of these works' titles, and the lost Metamorphoseis on which they are both based and of which the Golden Ass is a translation.