The Golden Ass · Chapter
The Preface of the Author to His Son, Faustinus explained
The author addresses his son Faustinus and the readers, introducing the book as a collection of joyous and wanton tales.
What happens
The author addresses his son Faustinus and the readers, introducing the book as a collection of joyous and wanton tales. He promises to tell the story of a man who lost his human form and lived as a beast, later restored to his original shape. The author reveals himself as the writer of his own Metamorphosis, describing his noble lineage from Greek cities and his later arrival in Rome where he mastered Latin. He asks pardon for any rudeness in his foreign speech and presents the work as a pleasant Grecian feast for the attentive reader.
Themes in this chapter
Transformation and Identity
The preface directly introduces the theme of transformation, as the author promises to tell how a man lost his human figure and later regained it.
Storytelling and Narrative
The author frames the book as a 'pleasant Grecian feast' and emphasizes the art of telling tales, inviting the reader to listen attentively.
Characters to notice
- Lucius
The author identifies himself as the one who lost his human figure and was later restored, referring to his own metamorphosis.
- William Adlington
The translator addresses his son Faustinus and the readers in this preface.
Key passages
“I will declare how one by hap his human figure lost, And how in brutish formed shape his loathed life he tossed.”
I will tell how a man accidentally lost his human form and lived a miserable life in the shape of a beast.
This sets up the central plot of Lucius's transformation into an ass.
“Hymettus, Athens, Isthmia, Ephire, Tenaros, and Sparta, being fat and fertile soils ... be places where mine ancient progeny and lineage did sometime flourish.”
The fertile lands of Hymettus, Athens, and other Greek cities are where my ancestors once thrived.
The author boasts of his noble Greek heritage.
“I arrived at Rome, whereas by great industry, and without instruction of any schoolmaster, I attained to the full perfection of the Latin tongue.”
I came to Rome and through hard work, without a teacher, I became fluent in Latin.
The author highlights his self-taught mastery of Latin.