The Afterlife of Apuleius, ,

Year

2021

Publisher

University of London Press

Language

English

Pages

ISBN

978-1-90567-088-8

Link

Last Update

04-Jan-2026

Keywords

Language & Literature ; History ; Classical Studies

Description

What do we know for certain about the medieval transmission and reception of The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses of Apuleius? Our firmest evidence is codicological. The traditional stemma (fig. 1) shows some key moments, beginning, in the 1050s–80s, with the creation, at Monte Cassino, of F (Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana 68.2), a manuscript containing the Metamorphoses, the Apologia, and the Florida.¹

The ink started to flake quite quickly from the flesh side of the parchment, and, around 1200, a copy of F was made which we call φ (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Laurentianus 29.2). Towards the end of the eleventh...