Comparing The Golden Ass and Augustine of Hippo - Essay Example

History Analytical Paper Lucius, popularly known for his book the Golden Ass was born in current day Algeria in the Northern Africa. He had his early education in Carthage and later Athens where he learned poetry, artifice, geometry, music and dialectics he spoke eleven languages. In his book where he is the narrator he journeys to Thessaly on the way meets two travelers and stays with one of them in Hypata. He is taken to court and charged with slaying three men while drunk, however, defends himself successfully. He likes magic and watches Milo’s wife performing and when he tries the same he turns into the ass. Like an ass he is owned by several people including priests and legionnaires, in his adventures he hears many novel tales. At the end of the book with the intervention of a god, he is turned into a human and joins the Isis cult when he returns to his native Rome. Peter brown depicts the non-factious various escapades of Augustine in the Augustine of Hippo. While not as interesting or humorous as the golden hand, it delves on Augustine change in believing from a Christian by his mother’s influence to a Manichean and later to Christianity where until his death he was a doctor of the church. To contrast the two books is intriguing and interesting as they both arguably represent literarily classical that has defied time to be among the best reads even in the modern day despite having been based in the early centuries of classical civilization. In two separate journeys, we are taken through memorable adventures whose discoveries and its outcomes are more or less similar. The Golden Ass and Augustine of Hippo both explore various themes in their story lines. Religion can be described as a person’s personal spiritual belief various religions abound. The narrator in The Golden Ass is interested in magic his beliefs. His interest in magic results in him turning into an ass. In the golden ass magic is largely discussed, a tale of Thelyphron is told. As a student Thelyphron indulges in many wanderings and runs out of funds. He is enlisted to take care of a corpse in an area where there are many witches it is said that the corpse pieces of flesh from his ears and nose are taken by the witches and more baffling is the resurrection of the corpse to affirm widow’s guilt. Peter brown in the Augustine of hippo explores religion deeply too (Brown, 342). He delves into Augustine of hippo’s life in various from when he is a Christian to mechanism and back to Christianity. In his faith’s journey, he develops some beliefs regarding various social issues including terming a natural occurrence as sinful. The Golden Ass and Augustine of Hippo biography also explores the theme of morality. In his sojourns as a human and later as an ass the narrator brings out many stories about morality. The story of a murderous woman who poisons his husband, a doctor and his wife on account that the husband had cheated on her. In Peter Brown’s Augustine of Hippo morality is explored even though very shallowly (Brown, 376). After leaving his concubine of nine years, Augustine gets another concubine and later chooses to commit and wait for his future bride. This is a big lesson on commitment because even thou he was not forced to take this action to preserve his conscience he does. Trickery is also implored largely in the two books. Augustine tricks his mother to believing that he has a friend he must see off when his mother insists on joining him in his trip to Tome (Apuleius, 389). He later steals away from her, however; it haunts him later. In The Golden Ass when Lucius and Charite are kidnapped by robbers, Charite’s fiancée comes to their rescue. He tricks the thieves into believing that he is a renowned thieve and later get them drunken so Charite and Lucius can escape. Apuleius and Augustine’s worlds are apart Lucius is humorous and a bit over the edge while peter brown paints Augustine as mildly tempered (Brown, 343). While luscious seems to enjoy the thrill of life and cares less about spiritual matters, it is the opposite for Augustine. The time the two were brought up made the difference in their lives. Lucius is cared free having been raised in a time where paganism was rampant. He is interested in magic and quite a dearer as it is established when he tries out the magic that Milo’s wife is performing. As an ass Lucius patience and endurance is visible in the hands of different owners, he is not at all complaining about the treatment that he gets instead he chooses to embrace the brighter things of his becoming an ass. Augustine is spiritually aware this can be attributed to the fact that he was raised when Christianity had spread throughout Rome and having been born to a Christian mother (Apuleius, 389). He is also conscious of his behavior towards his mother later comes to haunt him. He regrets his past deeds and tries to correct them. Peter brown also depicts him as mild tempered. A journey could be described as an act of a person moving from one place to another for a purpose often a long distance. The main characters in the two books take on long journeys that totally transform their lives. When Lucius sets off on a journey to Thessaly his life is never the same. He uses the journey to juxtapose his live transformation. The disposition of time and place coincides with his adventures in life. Augustine’s life changes with his traveling to Rome it could be said that had he not travelled then maybe he could not have changed many of his perceptions about life. Through his journey, he undergoes many transitions it is because of his journey that he ends up as a bishop of the church and later a saint. As he journeys, physically his life is also on a journey on establishing ones self and finding the purpose of life. The Golden Ass is written satirically, a caricature of an adventure by a learned man in the antiquity when paganism was still widely spread. Notably Augustine of Hippo is nonfictions excerpts of the original version of writings by Saint Augustine (Brown, 401). The characteristic literary style differences of the two books depict a difference in genre. The golden ass is an adventurous a story, a character journey through the most bizarre and fantastically tailored encounters that could be imagine. From the start of the story, an ever curious Lucius is depicted when he encounters Aristormenes with another traveler heading to Thessaly he is persistent in his request for him to retell his tale, however, outrageous it was, he even promises to buy him lunch if he does so. It cannot also be missed that his curiosity to learn magic turned him into an ass. When he tried to emulate what Milo’s wife was doing, he turned into an ass. This presents a striking contrast to the accurate historical tale of Augustine’s escape in Rome. The writer recounts from Augustine’s own account how he successfully stole away from his mother in the night of the oratory in memory of St. Cyprian his mother had so passionately followed him to the coast determined to take him back home, or he takes her to Rome (Archive.org). Augustine, however, deceived her pretending that he had a fried he had to bid goodbye. On that night, he slipped away from her. Another element of contrast that can be demonstrated in the two classical is the historical background from which they emerge. The golden ass which is dominated by mystery stories like the story of the kidnapped princess; who was separated from the family in an attempt to extort money in trade for her safety has relatively similar passages that point to the period before Christianity acceptance in Rome (Brown, 413). Charite speaking about her supposed marriage to Lepolemus refers to her having gone with friends to different temples to offer sacrifices. The consequences of roman Christianization were primarily the destruction of temples and building of churches. Therefore, it can be linked to the second century culture of Romans that were heavily characterized by mystery pagan religions. On the other hand, biography of Augustine is set in a period when Rome was declining. Fixed in the period after the Constantine Rome reveals that Augustine lived during the time full of dramatic changes. This change was perhaps the biggest and most important difference between Augustine and Apuleius. Another distinction that appears to differentiate Augustine and Apuleius could be based on their attitudes. Apuleius is very witty, humorous and a bit over the edge. Peter brown, however, depicts Augustine as a mildly tempered individual; preoccupied trying to fix the past guilt involving him and his mother. This comparison is intriguing as the two appear to be on extreme opposite side of the spectrum and the number of similarities. Apuleius and Augustine are similar in different ways. It all begins at birth as both of them were born in Northern Africa: Augustine in Thagaste and Apuleius in Madaura. Both men’s work was and was a contribution to the Latin literature that came from Africa (Brown, 453). However when closely looked into above these similarities a good number of parallels worth mentioning abound. For example, it is a fact that both men’s lives depict adventurous journeys to search for life’s meaning and purpose provide a framework in which the particularities connecting their lives can be accentuated. Apuleius and Augustine use their journeys to narrate their stories. Apuleius travels to Thessaly, his adventures, start on the way when he meets two other travelers. The story that one of they tell him can as well be argued as the start of his adventures. Augustine also sets out for Rome, and most of the influences that shape his storyline are arguably as a result of the journey. The two writers are also influenced largely by what they believe in; Apuleius, who would love to be a magician, encounters fate when he tries it and turns into an ass. There is after the story is based on the results of his failed magic. Augustine, on the other hand, who leaves his homeland believing in Manichaeism goes back to Christianity when he meets the bishop leading the cult. It is the result of what he perceived of the bishop that makes him become a Christian again not the persuasions’ of his mother, and this shapes the rest of the story until his death. Works cited Apuleius, . The Golden Ass: Being the Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius. London: We. Heinemann, 1958. Print. Archive.org. Full Text Of "The Golden Ass : Being The Metamorphoses Of Lucius Apuleius". Archive.org. N. p., 2014. Web. 8 May. 2014. Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967. Print. Read More