# XXXV explained — The Golden Ass

> Chapter companion for The Golden Ass by Apuleius.

## What happens

The travelers lodge in a village where a servant's adultery leads to his wife killing herself and their child, and the servant is subsequently punished by his master by being tied to a fig tree and devoured by ants.

## Themes in this chapter

### Violence and Cruelty

The chapter depicts extreme violence: a woman kills herself and her child, and a servant is slowly devoured by ants as punishment.

### Lust and Sensuality

The servant's lust for a harlot drives the tragic events, leading to jealousy, murder, and brutal retribution.

## Character check-ins

### Lucius

Lucius is traveling and hears the tragic tale from the villagers.

## Key lines

> How a woman killed herself and her child, because her husband haunted harlots.

A woman commits suicide with her child because her husband frequently visited prostitutes.

_The chapter title summarizes the central tragedy._

> the pismires after they had felt the sweetness of the honey came upon his body, and by little and little (in continuance of time) devoured all his flesh, in such sort, that there remained on the tree but his bare bones

The ants, attracted by the honey, gradually ate all the man's flesh until only his skeleton was left on the tree.

_Describes the slow and gruesome punishment of the servant._

## Links

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