Turpis Tristis Mundus Greed, Lust, and Sacrilege in Apuleius' Metamorphoses

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Rohrbacher, David

Keywords

Apuleius, Classics, Rome

Area of Concentration

Classics

Abstract

In this thesis I explore the how the vices of greed, lust and sacrilege create an atmosphere of corruption in the first ten books of Apuleius' Metmorphoses, from which the protagonist, Lucius cannot to escape. I argue that in the final book of the novel the goddess Isis inverts delivers Lucius from his suffering when he has a genuine religious awakening. In the first chapter, I examine three primary types of greed -- gluttony, avarice and curiosity -- and their consequences. In the second chapter, I present sexual lust in men and women, looking at lust as a motivation for deceit and violence. I also examine unnatural lust, including animal-human sex, male submission and incest. In the third chapter, I examine sacrilege, a violation of the proper practice of religion, in the powers and rites of witches, prophecy, and false spiritual figures and rituals. In the fourth chapter, I provide evidence for the inversion of each of these vices in Lucius' deliverance and initiation into the cult of Isis, engaging with John Winkler's Auctor & Actor: A Narratological Reading of Apuleius' Golden Ass, and I conclude that despite several moments of comedy, Lucius experiences a religious awakening and escapes the vice-filled world.

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