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PERRY An Interpretation of Apuleius Metamorphoses
PERRY An Interpretation of Apuleius Metamorphoses
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238
XII.-An
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twice
the length
of its
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(= satyr-like),
33 f.
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of this subjective
attitude is the author's practice of ascribing his own interests and sympathies
to Lucius and thus identifying himself at times with his principal character.
There can be no doubt that the Metamorphosescontains some Apuleian biography, but we can never be sure, in any given instance, unless we have confirmation from some more reliable source. For in dealing with the biography
of Lucius, our author is as likely to draw upon his pet fancies as upon his own
experiences, and a number of statements about Lucius which seem to apply to
Apuleius are incompatible with our author's biography as we know it from his
explicit statements elsewhere. The attempt of Enrico Cocchia (op. cit.) to
apply to Apuleius all the statements that the latter makes about Lucius'
family, and then to reconcile the contradictions by allegorical interpretation is,
at least, futile. It is not with any ulterior motive in mind that Apuleius
blends his own personality with that of Lucius, as in II, 15 or xi, 27, but simply
because he forgets the dramatic situation owing to the urge of his personal
sympathies.
26Cf. T. A. P. A. LIV, 212-216;
251
meal, they are made to relate three stories dealing with their
own exploits; but since there was also an old woman in the
cave and with her a captive girl recently torn from her fiance,
our author is reminded of an anilis narratio dealing with a
somewhat similar theme, viz. the story of Cupid and Psyche,
which he relates forthwith, though it is unique and does not
belong to a triad; returning thence to the main story which
told how the captive girl's fiance surprised the robbers,27he
represents the latter as pretending to be a famous robber,
Haemus, and as telling his recent experience; then going back
to the original and noticing the mention of the sudden and
violent death of the newlyweds, he bethinks himself of the
tragic history of Charite and her husband, and so on. In this
sort of procedure it is hard to find a great deal of intentional
artistry; yet Hammer has much to say about the studied symmetry, coherence and contrasts in tone, subject matter, number of stories, etc., etc. in which he discovers numerous laws.28
In so delicate a matter the reader must judge for himself.
For my part, I do not believe that Apuleius, adding stories
and supplements, the general character and subject of which
was suggested by the original context, as Hammer admits, and
grouping moreover like stories together, could possibly have
stumbled into any combination of materials which would have
failed to yield, on investigation, 'laws' of composition just
27Probably by serving them in the capacity of cook; cf. T. A. P. A.
LIV,
225, n. 26.
28 S. Hammer, op. cit. These laws, not one of which, so far as I can
discover,
applies throughout, are too intricate and numerous to be reported here, though
a few samples will indicate their arbitrary character. Page 54: "Certe dubitari
nequit istam fabellarum de latronibus et amatoriarum vicissitudinem (tres fab.
latr. Psycha, Haemus latro, Charite) quaesitam non fortuitam esse;" although
he admits that each was suggested by the original context (p. 55). Likewise,
he finds intentional artistry in the following arrangement: "mors agasonis
(supplementum) Charite (embolium), mors iuvenis a dracone perempti (suppl.),
servus uxoris proditor (embolium) ;" though it is not adhered to elsewhere and
could scarcely have been avoided when Apuleius happened to be adding
supplementa as well as embolia to the main story. Another 'law' is that of the
triad, which functions only occasionally and much to the detriment of the law
last mentioned.
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LIV,
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true that this book consisted of Rahmenerzdhlung,the hypothesis that Milesia (or Milesiae, Milesius sermo, etc.) thereafter
implied a book of essentially the same form as the Metamorphoses, and that Apuleius was imitating Aristides' scheme
of composition, would be given some support. As it is, the
testimonia concerning Aristides and his work are so noncommittal on this point that absolutely nothing can be inferred
with certainty about its internal arrangement; and since the
form of the MtXnilaaKais unknown, we cannot appeal to it in
explaining the form of the Metamorphoses.
Although ancient writers have nowhere defined for us the
nature and limitations of the type of story known as Milesian,
yet in modern times the term is applied by common consent
to a realistic and unmoral novella, such as, for example, the
story of the matron of Ephesus in Petronius, or that of
Philesitherus in Apuleius (ix, 17 ff.). It is probable that the
ancients likewise came to employ this word in the same or
even broader sense. Originally, of course, Milesian must
have been primarily a geographical term, applied only to
stories that came from Miletus and therefore theoretically of
unrestricted variety. As a matter of fact, most of the stories
from Miletus have a distinctly realistic trend and are closely
akin in spirit and substance to the old Ionian novella 37as we
know it in Herodotus. Although many of them deal with the
weaknesses of womankind, and although the erotic stories of
Aristides and Sisenna probably represented the most common
type of Milesian tale in later times, yet there is no reason to
suppose that these features were a sine qua non to Milesiae
as the ancients understood them. On the contrary, it seems
that it was a continuous narrative and that Sisenna, like Apuleius, added
something of his own thereto.
Plutarch, Crassus 32: aK6oXao-ra ,8t,Xa Trv 'Apwrreilov MtXrtlaiKSZv.
Ps. Lucian, Amores 1: 7rarv
v8
u'e
brTorbv 6oppov Xri iz acKOXaarTw
aov
rBL-..1
7retOC KaTarEbpavev,
&orr' o\i'yov 6e?v 'ApLareiSrljs evo61uov
/raorwv ailtbX7) Kai
tyXvKeLa
Ctva Trois MLXfloLtaKOZsX6yotyS T?r-PK-qXob!VivOS.
37Aly says: "Die Milesische Novelle ist von der altionischen Volksnovelle
nicht zu trennen."
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Chiefly no doubt for the sake of inspiring belief; see H. Werner in Hermes,
225 ff.
Vol. lvii]
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