Metamorphosis or The Golden Ass

Lucius Apuleius (c. 125 - 180)
Translated by Thomas Taylor (1758 - 1835)

The Metamorphosis, also known as The Golden Ass, is one of the very few novels of the Ancient World that survived to our days; one of the two novels of Roman Literature that we can still read; and the only one preserved in its entirety (the other one being the extremely fragmentary Satyricon).

The story of the Metamorphosis, the tale of a man turned into a donkey that goes through many adventures to become a man again, inspired many other similar ones later on. However, more than just the plot, the style of the Golden Ass also made it famous.

Considered one of the precursors of the picaresque novel, The Metamorphosis was written in a language that can be humorous and energetic, while telling the misadventures of the credulous and curious main character, but also powerfully poetic, in moments such as in the episode of Cupid and Psyche, one of the most famous parts of this book, and of Latin literature as a whole. (Summary by Leni)

Genre(s): Classics (Greek & Latin Antiquity), Fantastic Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 00 - Introduction Leni
00:21:24
Play 01 01 - Chapter 1, Part 1 Dee Wykoff
00:23:47
Play 02 02 - Chapter 1, Part 2 Shiromi
00:21:57
Play 03 03 - Chapter 2, Part 1 hefyd
00:27:03
Play 04 04 - Chapter 2, Part 2 hefyd
00:25:47
Play 05 05 - Chapter 3, Part 1 hefyd
00:20:23
Play 06 06 - Chapter 3, Part 2 Ted Garvin
00:22:58
Play 07 07 - Chapter 4, Part 1 Ted Garvin
00:27:44
Play 08 08 - Chapter 4, Part 2 ljsei
00:26:04
Play 09 09 - Chapter 5, Part 1 Ted Garvin
00:22:14
Play 10 10 - Chapter 5, Part 2 ontheroad
00:24:44
Play 11 11 - Chapter 6, Part 1 ontheroad
00:23:08
Play 12 12 - Chapter 6, Part 2 ontheroad
00:28:10
Play 13 13 - Chapter 7, Part 1 Ted Garvin
00:19:07
Play 14 14 - Chapter 7, Part 2 Ted Garvin
00:23:24
Play 15 15 - Chapter 8, Part 1 Anna Simon
00:30:11
Play 16 16 - Chapter 8, Part 2 Anna Simon
00:23:06
Play 17 17 - Chapter 9, Part 1 Thomas A. Copeland
00:35:44
Play 18 18 - Chapter 9, Part 2 Thomas A. Copeland
00:39:38
Play 19 19 - Chapter 10, Part 1 Tim Ferreira
00:25:20
Play 20 20 - Chapter 10, Part 2 Tim Ferreira
00:25:52
Play 21 21 - Chapter 11, Part 1 Todd Ulbrich
00:27:02
Play 22 22 - Chapter 11, Part 2 Todd Ulbrich
00:30:23