Description
Book SynopsisPresents a new approach to the
Metamorphoses: this is the first in-depth investigation of the use of speech and discourse as tools of characterization in Apuleius' novel. The book argues that discourse is the primary tool for negotiating identity, status, and power in the
Metamorphoses.
Table of Contents
- Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Cultural and Discursive Contexts
- Apuleius and the Metamorphoses
- Language and Meaning in the Metamorphoses
- Approaches to Discourse
- Apuleius’ Manipulation of Discourse in the Apology
- This Book
Chapter 1: Discourse from the Margins
- The Priests of the Syrian Goddess: Ancient Evidence
- The Priests in the Metamorphoses and the Onos
- The Bandits: Ancient Evidence
- The Robbers’ Rhetoric
- The Bandits’ Betrayal
- Conclusion
Chapter 2: Elite Discourse
- The Tale of Thelyphron
- The Festival of Laughter
- The Wise Physician
- Markers of Truth
Chapter 3: Asinine Discourse
- First Impressions
- Lucius’ First Master: Milo
- Metamorphosis
- Asinine Strategies of Communication
- Conclusion
Chapter 4: Feminine Discourse
- Byrrhena
- Photis
- The Corinthian Matron
- Isis
- Conclusion
Chapter 5: Silence
- Curiosity, Garrulity, and Silence
- Unheeded Warnings
- Magical Initiation
- How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ass
- The Tale of Cupid and Psyche
- Silence and Revelation
- Conclusion
Chapter 6: The Novel as Discourse
- Models of Reading
- The Prologue
- The Asinine Narrator and the Characterized Fictive Reader
- The Narrator’s Control
- The Epilogue
Conclusion: The Man from Madauros
Bibliography
Passages Cited
Index
