Framing the Ass

Complementing Harrison's previous volume, Apuleius: A Latin Sophist, this book studies one of the few extant Latin novels from the Roman Empire, Apuleius' Metamorphoses or Golden Ass. Harrison shows that this work is one of remarkable literary complexity, playing off other classical forms, especially the related narrative form of the epic. The volume traces some of the history of the novel's criticism and offers a detailed analysis of its key sections and issues, demonstrating in detail the literary sophistication and complex intergeneric intertextuality which is the key feature of Apuleius' novel.