Genre
Novel
Setting and Context
Ancient Greece, Rome
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narration; occasional third-person narration within this framework.
Tone and Mood
The tone varies, but is usually wry, cynical, witty, and glib.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist: Lucius; Antagonist: Many (bandits, young boy, Pamphile, etc.)
Major Conflict
The major conflict is Lucius's being turned into an ass, and the question of whether or not he will turn back into a human.
Climax
The climax is when Lucius is turned into an ass. The rest of the novel is concerned with how he navigates that and returns back to being a human.
Foreshadowing
-The stories of Aristomenes and Thelyphron foreshadow Lucius's transformation.
-Psyche's divine deliverance foreshadows Lucius's.
Understatement
-Lucius says of his flirtation with Photis: "The parts of me that were asleep before now stood to attention" (22).
Allusions
-Milo calls Pamphile a Sibyl (a woman who prophecies for the gods) (25).
-Lucius speaks of the "shrines of Coptus" (a place in Egypt where the shrines of Isis were) (35)
-Lucius mentions Hercules's 12 Labors (50)
-Lucius references Caesar, the Roman leader (56)
Imagery
See entry on Imagery.
Paradox
n/a
Parallelism
n/a
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
"Then, following the routine of our school, we waited for the time of night when the moon has set, when sleep launches its initial attack on men's minds, and then invades them in greater force and subdues them." (68)
"In my case, Fortune by launching her most savage attack had transformed me into a four-footed beast of the most menial condition." (121)
