Lecture 15: The Witches of Apeleius Metamorphoses Flashcards
what did Apuleius write
the metamorphoses , golden ass
what are the metamorphoses
the exploration of magic, transformations
what could golden ass mean
either could be a donkey, or a small coin made out of gold that is very valuable
what is the main premise of lucius in book 1
lucius is on his way to thessaly
why is lucius on his way to thessaly
its the hometowm of witchcraft, he was warned by many people not to go, but he still did and stays with his aunt who is also a witch
he wants to get turned into a bird
who does lucuis ask to help turn him into a bird
he hooks up with this slave girl who is actually a trainee witch who decides to help him - she gives him a potion instead actually turned him into a donkey
how did lucius get out of being turned into a donkey
he stayed as a donkey for one year, until he has an epiphany where he has a dream of isis, she tells him to go to this festival and find a priest, then he will eat this rose and becomes a priest of isis and no longer a donkey
who is aristomenes
someone that lucius meets in thessaly who warns him about witches
tells him the story of how socrates was trapped by a witch after he slept with her
what did aristmenes say to lucius about meroe and socrates
she said that she found him in an alley, all smelly and dirty and he said that after he had sex with her, he could not leave at all or do anything else, he was trapped. she had control over every single thing even the natural world
what was socrates pov of the meroe story
he says that the moment he slept with her he was infected with a trapping relationship
she turned his ex lovers into beavers, frogs and sheeps and also made his wife pregant forever without giving birth
what happened to end off the socrates and meroe story in the hotel room
after aristomemes found socrates she took him to a motel room and then mereo and her side kick panitha found them
meroe taunted socrates for leaving him and then struck him with her blade into his neck and collected the blood in a flask
then she stuck her hand into his body and grabbed his heart and took it and then panitha patched up his heart with a sponge
the witches then spread their legs over aristomemes and pissed on her face as this is very degrading
he ended up waking up the next day thinking it was all a dream
how did socrates end up dying
he stops by a river and the sponge replacing his heart falls out and he dies
aristomes buries him and leaves
what is thelyrons tale
lucius meets up with thelyron and thel tells him about the stuff he has seen about witches
says that in thessaly these witches are insane and gnaw off faces and his job was to watch the corpses all night without taking your eyes off of them because these witches are able to change shape and even put you to sleep
then the dead body speaks and says that the witches accidentally calls the weong thelyron to the door (alive one) and then chewed off his parts - so the dead body was actually safe
what was apuleis conclusion about witches
they are not good and they are scary, ugly, old, mean hags
only his aunt and slave girl were pretty
stay away from magic
