Magic has long been a device used to attempt an explanation of the inexplicable. It has always been believed by some that there are powers at work we cannot understand. In “The Golden Ass" by Apuleius, magic plays a prominent role in the everyday lives of many of the subjects. The one common thread these stories in “Golden Ass" by Apuleius share is that the practice of magic, or witchcraft, seems to be the exclusive territory of women, sexually desirable and libidinous women. Equally important, these roles of women in Ancient Greek and Roman literature are often concurrent. It should come as little surprise that, historically, men have tried to explain the effects women have on them through a belief in dark powers at work. It lends not only an excuse to whatever lascivious behavior the men may have exhibited, but also serves to deflect blame for their actions to someone else. A man cannot be held responsible for infidelity if he was under the influence of a magic spell. There is a certain safety in believing this rather than accepting the fact that the man may have acted in a manner he could not control and this certainly appears in The “Golden Ass" by Apuleius.

In “The Golden Ass", Apuleius presents several tales involving women and witchcraft. They are all presented with striking similarities. The women are always attractive, or at least “not at all bad-looking" (p.10), and are always sexually active, or “really in heat" (p.11). Not only is this the case, but because of this level of attraction, these are powerful women in ancient literature. The use of these phrases dictates a powerful message from the start of the “Golden Ass". These descriptions, being seemingly synonymous with the character of witches, are physical characteristics dictated by the man’s opinion. It is an attempt to demonize the effect that the physically attractive, sexually desirable woman has on the man. The power of sex and the influence it has over the characters in the “Golden Ass" is obvious in the many sexual encounters related through the tale, what may be less obvious is the specific criteria that are required for a sexual encounter to move from the realm of simple sex to witchcraft and magic.

The differences between the two grow vague in some cases, but can be very clear in others. In the story of Socrates, he relates how the witch Meroe once turned an unfaithful lover into a beaver because, as stated in one of the important quotes from “Golden Ass" by Apuleius, “beavers escape their pursuers by biting off their balls-the idea being that something like that would happen to him" (p.11). This illustrates the most heinous retribution to, a man, the loss of his virility and the end of his bloodline. The woman Meroe becomes in this manner something to be feared, thereby evoking pity for the “unlucky" man who was unfaithful in the first place and turning the claims of magic and witchcraft against the woman, thereby making her the perpetrator of the underhanded activity. In this manner, an excuse is found for the behavior of the man, being supposedly under the “spell" of the woman.

For a man to be able to later excuse his actions by claim of witchcraft was a commonly used defense if one goes by Apuleius’ accounts. The works of magic and witches arise often in the “Golden Ass", leading to the belief that infidelity was rampant in second century Rome seeing as most of these stories come about due to a man’s infidelity with a woman whom he could not control himself around, i.e. a witch. The witch’s practices were not only limited to men. A woman was “condemned to perpetual pregnancy for being witty at [Meroe’s] expense; she shut up the woman’s womb and halted the growth of the fetus, so that it’s now eight years that this unfortunate woman has been swollen with her burden" (p.12). This again is an attack not only on the woman, but also on the future of her family and bloodline, a blow that strikes much deeper than just physical damage to a person. The stories of these kinds of attacks were taken seriously by many listeners who watched this representation of women in ancient literature and scoffed at by others, but they were told often enough that magic, or the belief therein, came to play an integral part in society.

The narrator himself meets another witch soon into the story. He is told to “watch out for the wicked wiles and criminal enticements of that woman Pamphile" (p.24). This is immediately reminiscent of the earlier description of Meroe in that it evokes the same feelings of sexual fervency and trickery that seem to so confound and fluster the men in the Golden Ass. Pamphile is indeed seen as a witch by the narrator, who attempts to avoid her wiles and “enticements", due in part to the warning received by his friend. Pamphile uses her powers in an attempt to capture the interest of an uninterested lover. It is said of her that “the moment she sees a handsome young man, she becomes possessed by his charms and has no eyes or thoughts for anything else" and that “anyone who won’t cooperate or gets written off for not fancying her, she instantly turns into a rock or sheep or some other animal, and some she simply eliminates" (p.25). Lucius is given this statement as a warning to stay away from Pamphile, a woman who represents values conversant to the typical feminine norms of the time. She is independently confident and sexually driven. These are qualities that force the male of the times to reevaluate his position and power over women and are therefore treated with dismay and suspicion.

Beauty and sexual drive alone are not enough to stir claims of witchcraft, however. In the case of the kidnapped girl Charite, the accusation does not arise at all, even though she is, as Lucius claims, “extremely desirable, even to an ass like me", but she is “sobbing and tearing her hair and clothes" (p.69). In the case of Charite, she is presented as a character that is more understandable and stereotypical to how men of the time wish to imagine women; that is, crying helpless and unable to take care of themselves without the presence of their husband. The idea of witchcraft would never be applied to the character of Charite, because she fills the role of the idealized image men have created of what woman should be. The outright lust and improper desires are absent from her character, replaced instead by what could only be considered virtuous and innocent thoughts for the loss of her husband and “protector." This image fits more easily into the preconceived notions that men have created of women, it is something they understand, therefore, the concept of Charite’s character is more readily absorbed by Lucius and does not give rise to the entertainment of thoughts concerning witchcraft.

Apuleius uses the ideas of magic and witchcraft throughout the Golden Ass to express both the unfamiliar nature of an independent minded woman and to give the reader an impression of the superstitious attitudes with which those of the ancient world approached the mysteries that they felt threatened by. The character of Lucius is used as a kind of “everyman" to act as a gauge of the attitudes of the times. Through his character, we are drawn into the stories and preconceptions that prevail in the everyday life of Roman citizens. The line drawn between a practitioner of magic and a common woman is sometimes vague, sometime stark, but one fact is certain, people feel more comfortable with the world when it fulfills their preconceived notions of what is normal and understandable. Anything falling outside these boundaries, set up by their own minds, wanders into the territory of the unknown and mysterious, giving rise to ideas of magic and other forces at work. Explanations have always been sought as to the reasons behind mysterious occurrences, magic and religion are attempts to both explain and familiarize that which is unknown or challenging to our delicate fabrication of “reality."

Women of the time were expected to fill very specific roles and it becomes obvious that in any case where a woman falls outside this mold, by being either independent or vengeful, she is cast into the role of witch and magician. It was a common belief held by most citizens of the ancient world and is strongly reminiscent of the same treatment women can often receive today for challenging social boundaries. While we have advanced great distances in many aspects of intellectual thought and theory, there are evidently still strong resemblances to the superstitious and archaic beliefs of the past, especially where the roles of women are concerned.

Other essays and articles in the Literature Archives related to this topic include : Women and Power in Agamemnon and Lysistrata The Narrow Role of Women The Odyssey by Homer