The Golden Ass · Chapter
XXXVI explained
Lucius, still in ass form, is sold to the priests of the Syrian goddess, led by Philebus.
What happens
Lucius, still in ass form, is sold to the priests of the Syrian goddess, led by Philebus. He witnesses their fraudulent and debauched practices, including self-flagellation, extortion, and sexual abuse. When Lucius brays in protest, he nearly exposes them, but they escape and later plot to kill him. A cook's wife suggests killing Lucius to cover up a stolen venison, but the chapter ends with Lucius being sold again.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance
The priests of the Syrian goddess feign divine frenzy and prophecy to extort offerings, while secretly engaging in theft and debauchery.
Violence and Cruelty
The priests whip themselves bloody, threaten to kill Lucius, and abuse a young man; the cook plans to murder Lucius to avoid punishment.
Religion and Redemption
The perversion of religious practice is highlighted, contrasting with the later genuine redemption through Isis.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“When I beheld this horrible fact, I could not but attempt to utter my mind and say, Oh masters, but I could pronounce no more but the first letter oh, which I roared out so valiantly”
Seeing the sexual abuse, Lucius tries to speak but can only bray loudly.
Lucius's impotent rage as an ass.
“Then the cook hearing the counsel of his wife, was well pleased to slay me to save himself: and so he went to the whetstone, to sharp his tools accordingly.”
The cook, to avoid blame for a lost venison, decides to kill Lucius and pass off his flesh as the deer.
Lucius's life is again threatened by human greed.
“Marry (quoth he) in Cappadocia: Then he inquired what age I was of, the crier answered as a mathematician, which disposed to me my planets, that I was five years old”
The crier jokingly claims Lucius is five years old based on astrological calculation.
Mockery of both Lucius and astrological claims.