A Companion to the Prologue to Apuleius' Metamorphoses

The prologue of Apuleius's novel, the "Metamorphoses" is an example of a programmatic opening. This text raises a variety of questions about liberty, and about historical and linguistic interpretation. It covers issues ranging from philosophy and cultural history to intertextuality and Latinity.
In antiquity, when a "book" was a papyrus roll, its first few words advertised the nature of the text to follow. The prologue of Apuleius's novel, the "Metamorphoses" (or "Golden Ass"), is an example of a programmatic opening, which has captivated readers and scholars from the Renaissance to the present day. This short text raises a variety of questions about liberty, and about historical and linguistic interpretation. Along with a translation of the prologue, the 24 discussions in this volume, commissioned from international specialists, cover issues ranging from philosophy and cultural history to intertextuality and Latinity. This collection of essays combines the broader perspectives of an interdisciplinary anthology with the closer focus of a traditional commentary. As a model for collaborative work, it displays the strength and diversity of existing approaches to ancient texts and is designed to stimulate new developments in the study of classics and later literatures. This book is intended for scholars and students of classics, ancient history, and ancient philosophy.