Description

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Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (circa 123-125 – Madauros, Numidia (modern M’daourouch, in northeastern Algeria) circa 170-180) was a Numidian writer, Platonic philosopher and orator, who wrote mainly in Latin. He is best known for his Latin ‘picaresque novel’ Metamorphoses, better known as De Gouden Ezel. It is the only Latin novel that has stood the test of time in its entirety. With that novel, the writer had a lot of influence on Western literature. He received his first education in his hometown of Madauros, a Numidian Roman colony, far from the strongly Romanized Mediterranean coast. Madauros is the same city where Augustine of Hippo would later pursue his early studies. In one of his most famous works, Apologia, he described himself as “half Numidian and half Gaetuli.” After the death of his father, a provincial magistrate, Apuleius inherited a substantial fortune. With this he paid for his further studies. He went to Carthage and Athens to further his education in various subjects, including Neoplatonic philosophy. He then traveled to Rome to study Latin rhetoric. There he probably also worked for a while as an orator in the courts, before returning to North Africa. He also made tours in Asia Minor and Egypt, where he immersed himself in philosophy and the then flourishing mystery cults. More details about his life are not known, although many believe that they can glean biographical information from his works. When he returned to his country, he was suspected of witchcraft: he was said to have practiced magic to obtain the fortune of a wealthy widow. He had to defend himself in Sabratha before a court of magistrates, presided over by the proconsul. His defense (Apologia) is a hilarious work in which he utterly ridicules his opponents: it is one of the funniest works that have come down to us from antiquity. His Metamorphoses is, besides the only very partially preserved Satyricon by Gaius Petronius Arbiter, the only Latin novel that has even been preserved in its entirety. It is an imaginative, cheeky, humorous story about the adventures of a certain Lucius who experiments with magic and accidentally turns into a donkey but retains his human mind. In this ‘disguise’ he hears and sees many unusual things until he is rescued in a rather unexpected way. Within this framework are many shorter stories, of which the longest and best known is that of Amor and Psyche (Met. IV, 28 – VI, 24). Apologia (see description in section “Back in North Africa”) De deo Socratis (On the God of Socrates), a work on the existence and nature of Daimones, the mediators between gods and men. This work was vehemently criticized by Augustine. Other works by his pen are: Florida and On Plato and His Teachings.
Source: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Apuleius_Madaurensis