Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble: Isis and the Witches in

Apuleius’ Metamorphoses
Dan Rankin

The sincerity of Lucius’ conversion to the cult of Isis in Book 11 of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses is a
central issue to the novel’s interpretation. It is traditionally believed in scholarship that the
conversion was genuine and based on Apuleius’ own beliefs:1 Richard Hooper asserts that Book 11
is "a fanatical, indeed hysterical tribute to the goddess Isis… for there should be no mistaking the
fact that the novel is a deeply religious work, and that in opening its pages we are being
proselytised,"2 and Nancy Shumate agrees that "Apuleius' entire novel is to be understood as a
conversion narrative, a prototype for the Confessions of Augustine and other accounts of
conversion in later European literature."3 This stems from the reconstruction of a similar Greek
story with a donkey-transformation plot which the Metamorphoses was likely based on;4 this work
was ten books long, which according to Patrick Walsh "proves that this strange climax of religious
conversion has been introduced by Apuleius himself."5 Introduced it certainly was, but this does
not necessarily mean that it was genuine or without sarcasm, and a growing movement in
scholarship in the last few decades has come to suspect that the conversion to Isis plays a greater
role in the novel’s thematic structure. Jack Winkler first interpreted the Metamorphoses as
“deliberately ambiguous and unhelpful” because it “ultimately refuses to help the reader decide
between a religious and a playful interpretation,”6 Andrew Laird believes that the novel “is now
generally accepted as fictional”7 and was not intended to be believed, and Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser
goes as far as to assert that "it is beyond question that Apuleius' novel is a satirical reflection of
the religious market place of the 2nd century AD." 8 It is this last perspective which this paper will
support. It may be seen through comparison of Isis and her cult and the stories of the witches in
Book 1 that the goddess is in fact satirised in the Metamorphoses, and that the sarcasm with
which Book 11 is intended to be interpreted is foreshadowed from the book’s very introduction.
Imagery and themes used to describe the witches and their divine domination of men is precisely
the same as that used to describe Isis, and the story of Socrates’ enslavement closely mirrors
Lucius’ own subjugation to the Isiac cult.

1
Englert 2015 provides an overview of various perspectives; he asserts that "many readers take this conversion at face
value" (83).
2
Hooper 1985, 398.
3
Shumate 1996, 315-334. See also Bradley 1998 and Nock 1933.
4
Walsh 1968, 144.
5
Walsh 1968, 144.
6
Winkler 1979, quoted in Englert 2015, 81.
7
Laird 1993, 147; somewhat prematurely given Shumate’s comments in 1996.
8
Egelhaaf-Gaiser 2015, 85.
1
It is well accepted in scholarship that the Aristomenes’ tale of Socrates and his enslavement by the
witch Meroe is a deliberate foreshadowing of Lucius’ own encounter with witchcraft, 9 but it has
not been considered that it in fact foreshadows his relationship with Isis. There are considerable
structural and thematic similarities. Firstly, Socrates encounters the witch Meroe after being
mugged by bandits, just as Lucius encounters Isis on the beach at Cenchrae after escaping from
the wild beasts of the area; Carver has observed that Isis does not actually ‘save’ Lucius until he is
well out of danger and at liberty for the first time since being transformed into a donkey, and
notes that "even the 'salvation' that she offers is open to question… Isis seems to score a spiritual
bargain [by enrolling him in her cult]."10 Like Lucius’ brief encounter with Isis, Socrates is
spellbound by only a single interaction with Meroe – in his case sexual intercourse – and both
meetings conspicuously happen at night. When Socrates is subsequently stabbed by the witches it
is heavily implied that it may have only been a dream,11 and Isis also communicates with Lucius
through a dream. Meroe’s name itself refers to a region of Egypt which was in the area the
Romans referred to as ‘Aethiopia’ – mentioned during discussion of witchcraft and magic in Book 1
– and was particularly known for its worship of Isis.12 Indeed given that Egyptian magic (which was
practiced only by men13) and magical papyri are not mentioned at all in the novel, there can be
little reason for ‘the acuity of the Nile pen’ to be mentioned in the introduction if not to
foreshadow the cult of Isis and the hieroglyphs written on her sacrificial implements. 14 Isis is also
described with reference to exotic, far-off places;15 the animals on the robe Lucius wears in his
initiation come from places of suspiciously magical origin. 16 Furthermore, the witches are never
actually described as ‘witches’ using terms such as uenefica, praecantrix or incantatrix,17 but more
commonly as diuinae, ‘divine/godlike women,’18 terminology reminiscent of a goddess. Their
powers are referred to as ‘whispers,’19 but without mentioning what is being whispered or to who
(perhaps a prayer to a god). Finally, while Lucius’ conversion to Isis is not overtly sexual and indeed
the cult forbids such lusts,20 it should be noted that he has a tremendous obsession with hair:
Lucius comments regarding Photis that “if you were to despoil the head of even the most beautiful
of women of its hair and rob her face of its natural adornment, though she had come down from
9
Murgatroyd 2001a, 647.
10
Carver 2013, 246-7. With the bandits already departed, Socrates arguably did not need saving by that point either. it
should also be noted that Lucius specifically prays to be “return me to the sight of my friends and family” (Ap. Met.
11.2, trans. E.J. Kenny), a wish Isis does not grant.
11
Murgatroyd 2001b, 44.
12
Carver 2013, 248. It has also been proposed that her name referred to ‘unmixed wine’ (de Smet 1987, 616) but this
is both etymologically doubtful and thematically unsound; it has also been demonstrated by Müller-Reineke (2006,
esp. 648-651) that many of the names in the Metamorphoses refer to specific people or regions, not abstract concepts
like wine.
13
Lambert 2002, 85.
14
Ap. Met. 11.12.
15
Ap. Met. 11.12.
16
"Wherever you looked, I was decorated all over with pictures of multicoloured animals: here Indian serpents, there
Hyperborean griffins with bird-like wings, creatures of another world” (Ap. Met. 11.24, trans. E.J. Kenny).
17
saga only once at 1.8, followed immediately by diuina; Lamia once at 1.17, somewhat sarcastically (though
Leinweber 1994 has much to say on this matter); malefica once at 3.16 by Photis and maga once at 2.5 by Byrrhaena,
which are descriptions of their public reputation and not their true nature. None of these cases attest that this is
actually how the ‘witches’ – or possibly representations of Isis – actually viewed themselves.
18
E.g. at 1.7.
19
e.g. susurramine at 1.3.
20
Carver 2013, 244.
2
heaven [caelo deiecta], though she had been born from the sea and reared among the waves… if
she were bald, not even her Vulcan would love her.”21 Isis, described as the regina caeli (queen of
heaven), also emerges from the sea, and Lucius describes her hair before anything else: “long,
abundant, and gently curling, it fell caressingly in spreading waves over her divine neck and
shoulders.”22 From the outset, like Meroe, Isis’ seduction and subjugation of Lucius is sexual in
nature.

Indeed, the language which describes Lucius’ conversion to the cult explicitly uses language of
servitude. Isis in fact declares to Lucius that “the remaining course of your life right up until your
last breath is now solemnly promised to me.”23 Just like Socrates, Lucius then has to sell even his
clothes and work for his new master’s satisfaction: Socrates asserts that "even the very shirts
which the gentlemanly thieves had left to cover my back, I put over her, and even the slight
services which were the work of a porter [and] I was sprightly enough to be worthy of doing," 24
which is mirrored with Lucius’ statement that “the god continued to press me relentlessly, and his
repeated goading, which in the end became a command, was most distressing to me. Eventually
by selling my wardrobe, such as it was, I scraped together the small sum that was needed… ‘do
you hesitate to commit yourself to a poverty you will have no cause to regret?’” 25 Following the
mystery rites, which are also nocturnal, Lucius then begins to work as a lawyer – but even his
meagre income from this is taken by a third initiation rite. Even Lucius expresses his growing
discontent: I was extremely worried and in great perplexity asked myself anxiously what the gods
might mean by this new and unlooked-for demand… and I actually, I must admit, began to
entertain suspicions of [the priests’] good faith.” 26 One of these priests is in fact named Mithras –
referring to the rival sun-cult of the god of the same name – akin to naming a supposedly Christian
priest Mohammed. The novel then immediately concludes with Lucius shaving his head, which has
been noted to connote both a slave and a mime-comedian, the ancient equivalent to a clown; 27 in
its very final words the cult is connected to Sulla, a dictator who would specifically connote
subjugation to a Roman audience.28

This is also foreshadowed from Book 1 via the unusual imagery of cheese and choking, both of
which have substantial literary connections to magic, witchcraft, and forced servitude. Not only
does Aristomenes – a cheese merchant – choke on some food immediately before Socrates is
killed for the second time by the removal of the sponge from his airway, 29 Lucius also chokes on
some cheese and barley during his speech on why stories should be believed – the very same food
that Circe feeds to Odysseus’ men before transforming them into sailors. 30 Lucius’ conversion to
Isis also features a conspicuous choking reference, which occurs just before a feast and explicitly
connects choking to servitude: Lucius declares that "Finally I prostrated myself before her, and

21
Ap. Met. 2.8, trans. E.J. Kenny.
22
Ap. Met. 11.3, trans. E.J. Kenny.
23
Ap. Met. 11.6, trans. E.J. Kenny.
24
Ap. Met. 1.7, trans. E.J. Kenny.
25
Ap. Met. 11.28, trans. E.J. Kenny.
26
Ap. Met. 11.29, trans. E.J. Kenny.
27
Slave: van Mal-Maeder 1997, 101; mime-comedian: Englert 2015, 83-4.
28
Ap. Met. 11.30, trans. E.J. Kenny.
29
Ap. Met. 1.19.
30
Oates 2003, 207.
3
repeatedly kissing her feet and weeping profusely, my words constantly strangled by sobs and my
voice choking in my throat, I prayed."31 Cheese also has a sexual connotation,32 which relates the
sexual aspect of the characters’ enslavement to the choking and food themes. Furthermore,
Caroline Oates has pointed out that in Augustine’s Confessions "tavern landladies, skilled in magic”
– like the cauponae which feature frequently in Apuleius’ Book 1 – “usually give something in
cheese to travellers to transform them into pack horses and, after using them to carry things,
restore them to human shape." It would seem that this trope was common in literature. 33 This in
fact is connected to Isis. Plutarch, who is twice referred to as one of Lucius’ ancestors, 34 wrote a
work on the cults of Isis and Osiris which “makes it clear that the goddess' role… is that of a
mediatrix, leading the devotee to Osiris."35 The witches ensnare men with their hospitality and
transform them into animals which carry out their bidding: Isis ensnares men with her promises of
redemption and transforms them into priests, which do the same. Indeed neither Socrates or
Aristomenes return home after their encounters with witches, compelled to develop new
relationships with women from which they are unable to escape, and Lucius is unable to return
home either: he says that “I set about preparing my long-delayed return home, though it was hard
for me to sever the bonds of my ardent yearning… however, after a few days, at the prompting of
the mighty goddess, I hurriedly packed and took ship for Rome… my most urgent desire was then
to offer my prayers daily to the supreme power of Queen Isis.” 36 No further explanation is given of
his motivations or thoughts; Lucius’ single-minded desire to develop a relationship with a new
woman, Isis, creates the impression that he is just as spellbound as the unfortunate Socrates.

With this in mind, the “fanatical, indeed hysterical tribute to the goddess Isis" 37 should be
reinterpreted as ironic. It is very obvious that Lucius is overly curious about things extraordinary
and unbelievable in Book 1, but it seems that he did not learn from his mistakes: Lucius says that
“my desire to be admitted to the mysteries was growing with every day that passed, and I
constantly applied to the high priest with urgent prayers that he would finally initiate me into the
secrets of the sacred night.”38 Sandy observes that “his former impetuosity reasserts itself… this
eagerness obviously echoes his desire to be initiated into the mysteries of witchcraft." 39 Sandy
interprets the subsequent passage as genuine, where Lucius apparently completely changes his
personality and says “I did not allow my impatience to affect my obedience but, calmly and quietly
and maintaining a commendable silence, I devoted myself in earnest to the sacred worship,” but
the cloying sincerity and earnestness of his tone is so over the top that it can only connote
irreverent sarcasm from Apuleius – he is, to put it bluntly, taking the piss. When this perspective is
applied to the list of deities recited by Isis in Lucius’ dream, it is clear that “Apuleius' novel is a
satirical reflection of the religious market place of the 2nd century AD." 40 Isis asserts that she is at
the root of every famous mystery cult in the Mediterranean: she is the goddess being worshipped
31
Ap. Met. 11.24, trans. E.J. Kenny.
32
Oates 2003, 206.
33
Oates 2003, 210; Augustine Confessions 18.18.
34
Ap. Met. 1.2 and 2.3.
35
Carver 2013, 244.
36
Ap. Met. 11.24, trans. E.J. Kenny.
37
Hooper 1985, 398.
38
Ap. Met. 11.21, trans. E.J. Kenny.
39
Sandy 1972, 182.
40
Egelhaaf-Gaiser 2015, 85.
4
as Cecropian Minerva, Dictynnian Diana, Stygian Proserpine, the various goddesses of the (highly
magical) Ethiopians, and even the deity of the extremely famous Eleusinian Mysteries. 41 Through
this, Apuleius quite literally says that all of these cults are exactly the same: divine women who
seduce men into servitude and enslavement via sexually-based promises of redemption, just like
the witches in his novel.

In light of all this, it is very difficult to accept that Lucius’ conversion to the cult of Isis is being
genuinely represented by Apuleius or that the author intended to ‘proselytize.’ It has been shown
that thematic representations of Isis in Book 11 of the Metamorphoses bear substantial similarities
to the depiction of the witches in Book. Lucius’ ‘salvation’ by Isis, which does have conspicuous
sexual aspects, in fact closely resembles the sexual subjugation of Socrates by Meroe; Book 11
explicitly describes Lucius’ service to Isis in the language of servitude and enslavement, and the
recurrent themes of cheese and choking connect these themes to their counterparts in wider
Roman literature. Indeed, the thoroughly negative opinion that Apuleius – who was a lawyer –
held for goddesses with sexual power in general can now be blatantly seen in the stage-play which
immediately precedes Lucius’ so-called ‘salvation,’ through this prophetic speech: "now, you
sweepings of humanity, you beasts of the bar, you gowned vultures, do you wonder that
nowadays all judges and juries put their verdicts up for sale… when a judge chosen by the wisdom
of great Jupiter, a rustic shepherd-boy, sold the first judicial decision in history to gratify his lust
and destroyed his whole race into the bargain?"42

41
Ap. Met. 11.5.
42
Ap. Met. 10.33, trans. E.J. Kenny.
5
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