Sin and Redemption in Paganism, as exemplified in “The Golden Ass”
I wrote this for my Roman Literature class, but since I found this to be an extremely enjoyable subject to write about, as well as a bit of a different and controversial topic, I thought you guys might enjoy reading it as well!
Also, I highly recommend reading The Golden Ass if you get the chance. It’s a fantastic book, and a very entertaining read.
One day, I met my neighbor Theseus on the road while traveling to a near-by town and, since we were heading in the same direction, we began traveling together in order to pass the journey more quickly with conversation as our distraction. Since Theseus is a Christian and I a Pagan, our conversation soon turned to religion. During our conversation, Theseus informed me that he preferred Christianity to Paganism because it allowed for true redemption from sin with piety, unlike paganism. As it happened, just the week before I had reread The Golden Ass by Apuleius, so I had plenty of material with which to refute his statement.
“Theseus, my dear friend, you are mistaken! Clearly you have never read The Golden Ass, for that novel is about exactly that: a man’s redemption from his former life of sin through piety and devotion to the Goddess Isis.
“The story focuses on a young Greek man named Lucius who, in the beginning of the novel, is traveling to Thessaly. On his way, he stops for a few days in the town of Hypata and there stays with a man named Milo, who is friend to a friend of Lucius’s. During Lucius’s stay, he becomes sexually involved with Milo’s maidservant, a young and pretty girl named Photis, and their rendez-vous becomes his primary focus. Also during his stay, Lucius becomes aware, through several different sources, that Milo’s wife, Pamphile, was a witch and regularly practiced malevolent magic. However, instead of being wary and cautious, Lucius succumbs to his curiosity and begs Photis to aid him in watching Pamphile perform magic. Hesitantly, and out of love, Photis agrees. Through a crack in a door, Lucius watches Pamphile transform herself into an owl, and, again, instead of being rightly frightened, Lucius once again is curious and convinces Photis to help him become an owl as well. However, the plan goes awry when Photis brings Lucius the wrong magical salve and, instead of turning into an owl, Lucius becomes an ass. Once he becomes an ass, Lucius suffers and undergoes many trials and tribulations. After first being stolen by robbers from Milo’s home, Lucius passes from one owner to the next, many of whom beat him, subject him to work well beyond his physical capacity and threaten his life and his manhood. Finally, Lucius becomes a follower of the goddess Isis who restores Lucius’s human form to him.
“Now, I know, good Theseus, that you are still not quite convinced of what I assert, but there are still many elements of the novel which I must explain in order to make the theme of the novel apparent. First, it must become clear that Lucius was in fact a sinner, in your Christian terms. Prior to Lucius’s transformation, Lucius was primarily concerned with his lust, pride, and insatiable curiosity; characteristics which, both Pagans and Christians can agree, lead to a depraved life.
“During his stay, Lucius becomes involved in an affair with Photis, Milo’s young maidservant, but he does not become involved in this affair out of true affection for Photis, but rather, he becomes involved in an affair with her because she had previously shown herself to be interested and willing. ‘Last night when you retired to sleep, she [Photis] genially escorted you to your room, fussed over you in getting you to your bed, tucked you in quite affectionately, kissed your forehead, and showed by her face her unwillingness to leave… Photis must be your target.’ (22) So, the great amount of time which Lucius devotes to his physical relationship with Photis can only be categorized as lustful, and the egregiously large amount of time which Lucius devoted to their physical relationship reveals exactly how large and insatiable his lust was. ‘Engaged in… grapplings we remained awake almost until dawn. From time to time we refreshed our weary bodies with wine, which fired our sexual urges and renewed our pleasure. Several other nights we spent similarly, taking that first night as our model.’ (29) It is clear that Lucius’s lust is great, if not insatiable.
“There was one thing which Lucius had in even greater abundance than lust, and that was curiosity. Lucius received several warnings regarding the witches who inhabited Thessaly. First, he was warned by a fellow traveller whose friend Socrates had had his heart ripped out by a witch as revenge for attempting to leave her. (3 – 13) Second, he was warned by his Aunt Byrrhena that Pamphile was a witch who had a penchant for young and handsome men, whom she would transform into animals or kill, if they displeased her in some way. (21) Third, while attending a dinner party, Lucius hears the story of a man named Telephyron whose nose and ears had been removed by witches seeking body parts with which to conduct their necromancies. (31 – 37) Finally, Photis confirms Byrrhena’s tale and again explains both Pamphile’s association with black magic, as well as her hot and unpleasant temper. (48 – 49) Yet, ‘[he] was already disposed to curiosity, and as soon as [he] heard mention of the art of magic… so far from taking cautions against Pamphile, [he] was eager… to undergo such schooling willingly, and to pay a heavy price for it.’ (21)
“Lucius’s final ‘sin’ was that of pride, as made evident by his behavior during the Festival of Laughter. During the Festival, Lucius became the butt of a great practical joke, when a fake trial was staged accusing him of murdering three men in the street the night before who turned out to be wine-skins rather than real men. Rather than laughing at the situation, or taking his role in the joke as an honor (since his role in the joke would bring the immeasurable good will of the god Laughter to him), Lucius preferred to angrily sulk at his embarrassment and wounded pride. He avoided the company both of his aunt and his hosts, avoided the eyes of people he passed in the street, and finally retired to his bedroom early and ‘threw [himself] down on [his] little couch, and in [his] depression [he] recalled every detail of what had happened.’ (47) This hypersensitivity to embarrassment shows that Lucius was overly proud as well as overly concerned with the nature and state of that pride.
“These sins, though, slowly disappear as Lucius lives as an ass. As beatings and threats of death become a ritual part of Lucius’s life as an ass, he is humbled and realizes that perhaps Fortune is not on his side after all. Additionally, Lucius witnesses the deeds of a great many evil women who allow lust to dictate their lives, and as a result their own lives, as well as the lives of their husbands and children, are destroyed. Some women even commit atrocities as great as the murder of their own children. After witnessing the power which lust has to destroy the people who are touched by it, Lucius sees the sin in it. After seeing a reenactment of the story of Paris judging the beauty contest, Lucius first fully articulates his disgust: ‘This country bumpkin, chosen as a judge in the plans laid by Jupiter, sold that first verdict for lustful gain, and thereby destroyed the whole of his race.’ (215) As an ass, Lucius is both humbled and changed through his now base form as well as by being forced to observe from a distance the evil acts of the humans around him, which allow him to gain a new perspective about the world around him. As even further testament to Lucius’s metamorphosis, Lucius even becomes thankful for the experiences afforded him by his experiences as an ass. ‘Indeed, I myself now gratefully recall my existence as an ass, for when I was concealed in the ass’s covering and was tried by varying fortunes, I gained a knowledge of many things, though admittedly I was less wise. (169)
“However, it is not until Lucius becomes a devotee of the goddess Isis that he completes his inner transformation. After many months of being an ass and countless beatings and abuses, Lucius finally flees when he was supposed to publicly copulate with a criminal woman as part of a public spectacle and comes to rest on a secluded beach on the Aegean Sea. (216 – 7) Just before falling asleep there, Lucius prays to the Goddess Isis to help end his misery and cure him of his affliction, and shortly thereafter, Isis appears to Lucius in a dream and gives him instructs him on how to free himself of his ass’s form, and to become a devoted member of her cult. The next morning, Lucius obeys the goddess’s instructions and, as promised, Lucius finally manages to once more become a man. (218 – 226) As a man, Lucius demonstrates his newfound modesty of character through his devotion to his savior, Isis. In order to become an initiate of Isis’s and Osiris’s cults (requests made by the Goddess directly to Lucius), Lucius became totally chaste, sold off all of his worldly possessions in order to pay for his initiations, shaved his head and thrice abstained from meat and wine. Yet, Lucius’s thoughts were only those of thanks and love for the Goddess and the salvation which she had offered to him in her benevolence, a true sign of Lucius’s total conversion both of body and mind. (233 – 240)
“You can see, dear Theseus, that Lucius underwent the same kind of redemption from sin that you spoke of, but in the name of Isis, rather than that of your God. Though his sins were great, Lucius was humbled by the harsh realities of life as an ass, and this humbling made him open himself to and welcome the goddess as his only means of salvation. Then, after his salvation and ‘rebirth’ as a man, Lucius devoted his life not to the earthly pleasures which he had enjoyed before, but rather found happiness and security in the worship of, love for, love from, and total devotion to the great Goddess. Wouldn’t you agree that that mirrors the doctrines of your own religion?”
Theseus acknowledged that I had made some good arguments, but he could not be wholly convinced until he had read the novel for himself and decided that I had accurately analyzed and understood what I read. I was pleased though, for I knew that once he began to read The Golden Ass, he would find that every word I had spoken was confirmed with every page he turned.
An international response to the royal wedding:
Hey guys, I just wanted to give a little shout-out about why I’ve been posting stuff so infrequently on here the last few days. See, I created a second blog which is TOTALLY AWESOME!
www.simplyslightlysilly.tumblr.com
And you should follow it :)
It’s a blog devoted entirely to happy things and things that will make you smile! :) Well, hopefully. They’re intended to make you smile! So, a lot of my energy has been put into that blog the last few days. I’m going to keep this one, and upload all of my writing on it still because that was always the original purpose of this blog, but if I seem to disappear temporarily, it’s probably because I got caught up with my other. Which you should also follow. Because it’s equally awesome since it was also made by me and I am purely fantastic.
I do promise though that more serious writing is coming very soon.
The Weather Channel Just Informed Me…
…That yesterday there was a massive tornado outbreak:
“Destructive tornadoes plowed through the Southeast, leveling homes and businesses in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Cullman, Ala., among many other places. The toll from Wednesday’s twisters could make this the deadliest U.S. tornado outbreak since the 1974 “Super Outbreak”. There’s still one day of severe weather left along the East Coast.”
My thoughts are with the victims. I hope you all will do the same. Oh, and anyone living in the SE, please be careful!
hitRECord!
Hey guys, I wanted to let you all know about a site that I was just introduced to tonight. Because it’s fucking awesome.
You can get more details on the site itself, but basically what it is is this collaborative creative arts site for writers, musicians, animators, film makers… etc and how it works is you upload something of yours (it might be a short film, it might be a song, it might be a story, it might an animation… you get the point) and then other people on the sight may see it, love it, and build on it. So, if you post a short story, someone else might make an animation and voiceover to go with it. Or, you might post a song, and then someone else might make a film to go with your song! So, in the end, what you get is a finished film which you helped create. Which is pretty freaking awesome if you ask me.
So join already!!! What’s the worst that can happen?
If you can manage to survive enough tomorrows, then you’ll eventually find anything and everything you’ve ever wanted.
“You’ll find yourself lost inside of this chaos”
I looked up the words “happy”, “love” and “perfect” in the thesaurus, and still couldn’t find a word to accurately describe the feeling I get when I’m with you.
I’m not very good at not being strong.
When times are tough, I can still smile and see the sunrise up ahead.
When I’m surrounded by stress, I keep my focus and beat down any obstacle.
When it’s time to get angry, I can scream and stomp in anger with the best of them.
When it’s time to stand firm, I am a boulder; a stone after my own name.
When there needs to be a compromise, I can graciously make sacrifices.
When a difficult decision is before me, I can be confident in my own response.
When my life is struck by grief, I can face it, greet it, and move ahead with it.
…
But when someone puts an arm around my shoulder, takes my hand in theirs, looks me in the eye with nothing but love and says:
“Please, what’s wrong?”
I freeze. Words expand in my throat or get lost along the way to my mouth and in the end what comes out is nothing. Just “nothing”.
…
When it’s time to reveal my weaknesses, I am bereft. My courage flees and I am left with an open wound that anyone who’s close enough can see but no one is allowed to heal.
Again, another Eloisa exerpt which may or may not be kept.
Day 1704
“I think I want birds,” Eloisa said.
“Wonderful Eloisa. I’m so happy for you,” Rudy replied.
“We can have pets in the house, right?”
“As long as it’s not a dog, yeah.”
“Well, then I think I want birds.”
Rudy set his newspaper down and widened his eyes at Eloisa.
“Are you joking? Please tell me you’re joking.”
“No! I think I want birds.”
“Why?”
“Why?” Eloisa paused, looked up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Because I don’t have enough pretty things in my life.”
“Buy flowers.”
“But flowers won’t sing to you!”
“They can if you put a stereo right behind them.”
“Rudy.”
“Birds smell, Eloisa.”
“No they don’t! Not even a little bit; have you ever been around birds?”
“Well, they’re loud.”
“I’ll keep them in my room.”
“Then they’ll keep you up all night.”
“The neighbors already keep me up all night.”
“You’ll forget to feed them and they’ll die.”
“But that’s why I have you Rudy!”
Rudy looked exasperated.
“You know you’ll remind me to feed them every day, whether you want to or not.”
Rudy sighed.
“And,” Eloisa continued, her face lighting up. “You know it would terrify the shit out of Rachel.”
Rudy smiled.
“She would be so angry…” Eloisa elbowed Rudy. “But she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it…”
“I do hate that girl… Why did we agree to live with her this year?”
“Don’t change the subject Rudy.”
“Right, sorry.”
“Well?” Eloisa scooted her chair closer to Rudy’s. “Want to help me come and pick some out?”
Rudy looked exasperated, sighed, and then shrugged his shoulders.
“Please just tell me it’s not going to be something that talks to me.”
“I want canaries,” Eloisa smiled.
“Do you know actually know anything about canaries?”
“I learn fast on the job, Rudy. You know that.”
