The Golden Ass

Lucius experiments with magic because of his obsessive curiosity, but uses the wrong ointment and becomes an ass instead of a bird. He retains his human intelligence and can regain his body only by eating roses.

An old woman tells the tale to the abducted Charite while Lucius listens in donkey form. The long inset story occupies several books and mirrors the larger novel's themes of curiosity, suffering, divine intervention, and transformation.

After appealing to the goddess Isis, Lucius joins her public procession and eats roses carried by a priest. His restoration in Book 11 is followed by initiation into the mysteries of Isis and later Osiris.

Both works tell a similar story about a man transformed into a donkey, suggesting a shared Greek narrative source. Apuleius' Latin novel is much longer and uniquely includes major episodes such as Cupid and Psyche and the elaborate religious conclusion.