# Book VIII explained — The Golden Ass

> Chapter companion for The Golden Ass by Apuleius.

## What happens

Lucius, still in ass form, witnesses the tragic aftermath of Charites and Lepolemus's deaths, is subjected to cruel treatment by new masters including a group of priests of the Syrian goddess, and endures further hardships as he is passed from owner to owner.

## Themes in this chapter

### Violence and Cruelty

The chapter is filled with graphic violence: Lepolemus is murdered, Charites commits suicide, and Lucius is beaten and abused by multiple owners.

### Fortune and Suffering

Lucius's misfortunes continue as he is passed from cruel master to cruel master, highlighting the capriciousness of fate.

## Character check-ins

### Lucius

Narrates the chapter as an ass, observing and suffering through the events.

### Charites

Her tragic death is recounted after her husband Lepolemus is killed.

### Lepolemus

Killed by Thrasillus, leading to Charites' subsequent suicide.

### Thrasillus

The villain who murders Lepolemus and causes Charites' downfall.

### Philebus

One of the priests of the Syrian goddess who buys and mistreats Lucius.

## Key lines

> But the next day, when the woman had taken her husband's body and buried it as she could, she was determined to die, and so she went down to the sepulchre, and there she hanged herself.

The next day, after burying her husband, Charites resolved to die and hanged herself at his tomb.

_Describes Charites' suicide following Lepolemus's murder._

> Then the priests of the Syrian goddess, who were wandering about the country with their image, came to that place, and seeing the ass so well proportioned, they offered a price for him, and bought him.

Wandering priests of the Syrian goddess saw the well-built ass and purchased him.

_Lucius is sold to the priests, beginning a new phase of suffering._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_golden_ass_se/chapters/book-viii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_golden_ass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_golden_ass_se/chapters