SCS-43: Apuleius and His World: New Approaches, New Directions

Organizers

Marsha McCoy, Southern Methodist University

Discussants

Ellen Finkelpearl, Scripps College

Description

Over the past decade and a half, a number of conferences, books, and articles have addressed the works and life of Apuleius (120-180 CE), considering his geographic and ethnographic origins, and his literary influences among other topics. He was born and lived in Madauros (now in Algeria) in the Roman province of Africa, and his regional ethnicity (Numidian/Gaetulian: Apology 24) and provincial identification remained core features of his persona, even as he was broadly educated in Athens and Rome and travelled widely throughout the Empire (Graverini. 2007/2012; Lee, Finkelpearl, Graverini, eds. 2014). His interactions with Latin poetry (Hindermann. 2009; Harrison. 2013), rhetoric (Costantini. 2021), and drama (May. 2006) have been deeply explored. The influences of Greek poetry (Hellenistic poetry: Graverini. 2006), prose fiction (the Milesian tale tradition: Harrison. 1998; the ass-narrative tradition: Mason. 1999), and Greek philosophy (particularly Plato: Tilg. 2014) have also been admirably delineated. Feminist approaches have provided valuable insights (Dutsch, 2008; Masterson, Rabinowitz, Robson, eds. 2015), but there is more to be done in this and other areas.

This panel explores new approaches to the study Apuleius, and particularly the Metamorphoses.