Apuleius Madaurensis Metamorphoses, Book I: Text, Introduction and Commentary 906980154X, 9789069801544

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Foar Heit en Mem parentibus carissimis

GRONINGEN COMMENTARIES ON APULEIUS

APULEIUS MADAURENSIS

METAMORPHOSES Book I Text, Introduction and Commentary

W.H. Keulen

EGBERT FORSTEN, GRONINGEN 2007

CONTENTS Preface

IX

Introduction

1

Note to the text

51

Text

53

Commentary

62

Appendix I

468

Appendix II

472

Bibliography

475

Indices

507

PREFACE Paradoxically, the commentary on the first book of Apuleius' Metamorphoses is the last volume to appear in the Groningen Commentaries on Apuleius series. It is the revised and expanded edition of my 2003 dissertation (supervised by Prof. Dr. Ruurd Nauta, Prof. Dr. Heinz Hofmann, and Dr. Maaike Zimmerman), which covered the first twenty chapters of Book 1. The present commentary includes the six remaining chapters of the first Book, and contains a thoroughly revised Introduction and Text; a second Appendix was also added. Writing a commentary largely deals with placing things in context. I should like to take the opportunity to place the present commentary in its context by thanking those without whom it could not have been written. First of all, my heartfelt gratitude goes to Maaike Zimmerman for her support throughout many years. It is impossible to express here what I owe to her, and I am grateful for having been able to do this on a different occasion. I also thank the members of the research group Groningen Commentaries on Apuleius, which formed an invaluable academic context for the present work. Special thanks go to Stelios Panayotakis; with gratitude and fondness I remember the period during which we shared the 'Apuleiuskamer'. Stephen Harrison and Thomas McCreight not only kindly read my work but also took the trouble to revise the English. Next, I thank Luca Graverini, with whom I was happy to share many preliminary versions of articles and a pleasant collaboration. I thank colleagues and students from the Classical Department of the University of Groningen for their support and feedback during various occasions. I am also indebted to Leofranc Holford-Strevens for his valuable comments and suggestions for improvement regarding both form and contents. I thank the staff of the Groningen University Library and the Library of the Faculty of Arts for their kind assistance. Moreover, the work on this commentary greatly benefited from visits to excellent libraries abroad, such as that at the Fondation Hardt in Vandreuvres, Switzerland; the Bodleian Library, the Sackler Library, and the library of Corpus Christi College at Oxford; and the Classics library of the Freie Universitat in Berlin. I should like to express particular gratitude to the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae in Munich for a number of fruitful and enjoyable research visits. As with the previous volumes of GCA, the publication of the present volume has been made possible through a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Wytse Keulen Groningen, January 2007

INTRODUCTION 0 1 1.1 1.2 1.2.0 1.2.1 1.2.2 1.3 2 2.0 2.1 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.2 2.2.l 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.3 2.4 3 3.0 3.1 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 4 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4

The programmatic nature of Book 1. Prolegomena Content and structure Plot summary Spatio-temporal structure Overall structure Structure of the framing tale Structure of the inner tale Book 1 and the Onos The Prologue as rhetorical progranune of the met. Introduction: rhetoric, genre, contemporary literary education

Quis ille? Performer and writer Greece and Rome: landscape, language and literature Lucius' urbanitas: a uir ornatus versus boorish fools The concern with a rhetoric of change, variation, and corruption Fictional content: metamorphoses and fortune's reversals f abula Graecanica urbanitas 'gone wrong': corrupt(ing) rhetoric and effeminate eloquence Milesiae, quisquiliae, nugamenta: 'trash' in Antonine literature 'Fiktive Miindlichkeit' and style as a means of characterisation Book 1 and Satire: Dubious storytellers at a degraded symposium Introduction: the presence of Roman Satire in the met. Iter Thessalicum: missing conviviality and perverted hospitality Lucius the gluttonous entertainer at the symposium Busy storytellers: Lucius the 1rot..unpayµwv and Aristomenes the t..oyonot6i; The inn (hospitium) as a setting for wrong symposia and corrupt rhetoric Perverted hospitality and debased literary paradigms The blandishments of the innkeeper as symbol of verbal deception 'Entertainers of the party': symposiastic banter and religious storytelling Ambiguous symptoms and competing scenarios Introduction: diagnosing symptoms as a metaphor of reading 'Murder at the Inn' 'Sexual exhaustion' and 'wet rituals': Meroe's hybrid personality The 'symptoms of a madman' and metapoetic connotations Scrutinising Lucius: aristocratic hero or flattering parasite?

0. The programmatic nature of Book 1. Prolegomena The first book of the Metamorphoses poses specific challenges because of its programmatic nature. It includes the famous Prologue, in which the narrator (the ego)

INTRODUCTION

makes a statement on the rhetorical style he is going to adopt. This is followed by the programmatic discussion between the narrator-protagonist Lucius and his sceptical travelling companion about the acceptance or rejection of a miraculous story, the narration of which is framed by their discussion (I, 3; I, 20). This story (1, 5-19), recounted by a character called Aristomenes and dealing with the horrors of witchcraft, can also be read in a programmatic way, containing in summary motifs and themes that emerge as central to this novel. We find explicit references to the text's own rhetoric and genre in the Prologue, and in the ensuing programmatic dialogue, where traditional issues of lies and fiction are evoked. We are invited to see a parallel between 'magic' and 'word-magic'. Various allusions in the text to notions of verbal persuasion as contrived to move, to entertain, and to deceive, but also designed to exaggerate and to insult, invite us to read this text as a kind of al1egory of literature. In his penchant for literary criticism and metapoetical imagery, Apuleius resembles his contemporary Lucian; both stand in a tradition that can be traced back to Aristophanes. 1 Moreover, the Apuleian text contains many aspects of theatricality and performance which can be interpreted in a self-referential way. Apart from violent intrusions and door-battering (1, 11, 6-7 [10,21 f.]; 1, 17, 1 [15,9 f.]; 1, 22, 1 [20,4 f.]), we find various instances of jumping, dancing, somersaults and headlong tumbling in the first book, both in a literal and in a transferred or symbolic sense (1, 1, 6 [2,2] desultoriae scientiae; 1, 4, 4 [4,9] eneruam et exossam saltationem; 1, 11, 8 [10,24 f.]; 1, 13, 1 [12,3 f.]; l, 16, 6 [15,6 f.]; 1, 19, 10 [18,8] cernuat; cf. 1, 26, 6 uerborum salebra). Behind these instances of seemingly uncontrolled energetic action we may observe the suggestion of skilful acrobatic performance (by desultores, circulatores, saltatores), and a play with the metaphorical associations of acrobatics with the vicissitudes of fortune (cf. desultoriae scientiae; cernuat). By reading these 'stage performances' as vivid illustrations of the rhetoric, themes, and style of the text itself, the present study intends to show how in the Apuleian dramatic scenes sometimes a deeper spectacle unfolds. 2 The playfulness of Apuleius' narrative fiction does not disregard the serious, the recondite, and the arcane. Allusions to philosophical lore (Empedocles, Pythagoras, Plato), moral education (Plutarch), and various scientific issues confirm the Prologue's suggestion that knowledge and erudition form a 'conditio sine qua non' for a pleasurable reading of this narrative. Throughout we feel the presence of scientia behind apparently desultory shifts - it may not be coincidental that in the programmatic Book 1 the most frequent reproach is that of ignorance (see comm. on 1, 6, 4 [6,7] ignoras). Through its elusive interplay between y£Aofov and crrcou8atov (cf. below, 2.3), Apuleius' sophisticated novel keeps readers fascinated from the first until the last Book, until the present day. It is the aim of the present Introduction to clarify the programmatic nature of the text, thereby closely following the structure of the work commented on in this volume. It 1

On Lucian' s use of literary criticism and the Greek traditions behind it see Weissenberger 1996, 9-26; Von Mollendorff 2006. 2 Cf. studies on 'mise en abyme' in the Metamorphoses, which usually focus on descriptive passages (tK SKtlVJ]seems hard to sustain; for a comparison between these passages see Jones 1980, 252; Stephens-Winkler 1995, 326-328; Stramaglia 1999, 335 n.4 with further references. Here, it may add to the parody of philosophical (Socratic) dialogue (see lntrod. 3.1). In this and the next chapter Apuleius humorously adapts and transforms several well-known elements of the Platonic locus. Just as Socrates and Phaedrus raise the question of belief or scepticism concerning fairy-tales about anthropomorphic gods and mythical creatures before they sit down (229c-d), so our Socrates and Aristomenes just have engaged in a kind of Sacra.tic dialogue focusing on a similar dilemma (see the opening remark of this chapter). However, the original deliberation about where to sit down has been substituted here by Aristomenes' brief instruction to sit down, in order to eat. The present scene-setting does not open a story, but will turn out to introduce its end. Socrates will not utter one more word. The Platonic locus amoenus will even become his grave (1, 19, 11 [18,9 f.]). Sandy 1997, 253 compares Petron. 131, 8 (dignus amore locus), where the Platonic background equally turns out to be a setting for farcical debasement. platanum: the reference to the plane tree adds to the (misleading) suggestion of rest and refreshment after toil; see the elaboration of the locus amoenus in 1, 19, 7 (17,18 f.). Apuleius mentions the plane tree's proverbial quality of offering shade to those who drink in mund. 36 p. 369 platani, ut ait poeta, umbras potantibus ministrantes (a reference to Verg. georg. 4, 146 ministrantem platanum potantibus umbras). For this poetic motif, going back to Homer (/l. 2, 307) see Bomer on Ov. met. 10, 95 (p. 43 f.). Moreover, a plane tree sometimes appears as the shelter for writers in Greek literature (cf. Marcellin. vita Thucydidis 25 and see Chambers 2000, 508 with n. 16).

339

CHAPTERXIX Repentina mutatio: Socrates' hunger and thirst tum a nightmare into reality.

1, 19, 1 (17,7-9) Quo facto et ipse aliquid indidem sumo eumque auide essitantem aspiciens aliquanto intentiore macie atque pallore buxeo deficientem uideo. That done, I too took something from the same sack, and while watching him gobbling greedily, I saw him wasting away with rather acute emaciation and pallor like boxwood. Aristomenes is again in his role as spectator (aspiciens; uideo); see Introd. 3.1.2 with n. 112. His gaze is directed towards the symptoms of Socrates (see Introd. 4.0 with n. 139), whose extreme gluttony (1, 19, 6-7 [17,16 f.]) is in sharp contrast to his own modest way of eating (aliquid indidem sumo; 1, 19, 3 [17,11 f.] frustulum panis ... admodum modicum). Quo facto: viz. having seated down. Cf. 6, 7, 5 (133, 15) quo facto protinus domum facessit; 9, 2, 6 (204,13 f.); 10, 4, 5 (239,15); l l, 14, 5 (277,2); 11, 21, 1 (282,11). For Apuleius' penchant for such transitional expressions see on 1, 6, 4 (6,7) et cum dicto. The present phrase is attested from Trag. inc. 6 onwards and especially frequent in historiography; see ThLL s.v.facio 102, 80 f. indidem sumo: cf. 10, 26, 3 (257,19) indidem de potione gustauit ampliter, referring to a fatal draught of poison (see GCA 2000, 327 ad loc.). Aristomenes eats from the same bread and cheese that will tum out to be fatal to Socrates; although he takes very little (aliquid), he almost suffocates when the very first piece sticks in his throat. For the use of indidem in the meaning of 'from the same source or supply' see GCA 2000, 274 f.; it is one of Apuleius' favourite adverbs, as he uses it 20 times, 17 of which in the met. Callebat 1968, 293 mentions indidem as an example of adverbs used as a substitute for a preposition with a pronoun. auide essitantem: whereas this frequentative form of edere (see GCA 2000, 230 on 10, 16, 2 [248,30] esitaham, with ref.; cf. Gloss. comedit (frequenter)) elsewhere conveys the meaning of 'be accustomed to eat, have as one's usual nourishment' (e.g. Plin. nat. 31, 89), here it has an iterative-intensive sense (contra Callebat 1968, 484, who thinks the verb has lost this sense in Apuleius). The combination with auide emphasises Socrates' gluttony (see on auide); cf. 7, 27, 3 (175,7 f.) uentrem semper esitando distendit. Socrates just keeps on putting bread and cheese in his mouth. For similar full expressions cf. below (1, 19, 7 [17, 18]) auide deuorauerat; I, 4, I (3,23 f.) contruncare gestio; 6, 31, 1 (152,19) dum auida uoracitate cuncta contruncant. The verb is archaic (see Callebat 1968, 484); it is attested from Enn. frg. var. 113 onward; also in e.g. Plaut. Capt. 188; Pseud. 829; Cato agr. 157. Apuleius avoids verbs for eating that were used in contemporary spoken language and survived in the Romance languages (manducare and comedere); see Stefenelli 1962, 64 f.

I, 19

In F, the same hand later added the second -s-; pectantenullo). nam: the particle nam has here a text-organizational function (Kroon I 995, 161 f.), which means that it combines the features of a 'backward-linking' and a 'forwardlinking' nam. On the one hand, nam marks a subsidiary discourse unit that establishes a backward link with the preceding main discourse unit: after the elaborate description of the cause of Aristomenes' fear, the nam-sentence presents - as a kind of addendum or afterthought - another reason for this fear. On the other hand, nam introduces a discourse unit that entails a new topic (viz. lack of eyewitnesses), which will be elaborated on in the ensuing text (quis enim ... crederet?). A side effect of this use of nam is the indication of the semantic relation of adversity (Kroon 1995, 168), which is reflected in e.g. Butler's translation: 'My fear was yet further increased ... ' breuitas ipsa commeantium: from Helm ill onward, all editions retain breuitas, transmitted by F. Apuleius uses breuitas here of 'a (too) small number' (of people), a circumlocution for the fact that there was no one in sight; for this use of breuitas compare the analogy with its opposite copia, at 8, 1, 1 (178,9 f.) copia custodientium ('by the huge number of guards'). For breuitas = 'paucitas' see also Wiman 1927, 21 f.;

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Helm 1930, 507, in his review of Giarratano' s edition; Vallette; Calle bat 1968, 150. Callebat in AAGA 1978, 169 calls this use of breuitas a deliberate 'interference semantique'. Wiman quotes Lofstedt's comm. on the Peregr. Aeth. (148 f.) (see also Lofstedt 1959, 113 f.) for evidence concerning breuis = 'paruus'. Apuleius uses paruus in the sense of 'small in quantity' in 1, 19, 9 (18,7) paruus admodum ... cruor. For a different peculiar use of breuitas cf. 1, 23, 4 (21, 11) breuitatem gurgustioli. Regarding the logic of the present situation, Helm rightly argues that Aristomenes is worried about a lack of witnesses, comparing Cic. inv. 1, 80 qui locus desertus est, in eo caedemfactam esse oportet; in loco celebri homo occidi qui potuit? Commeantium, then, refers to the travellers who will possibly witness Socrates' death. Vallette ad loc. agrees (he proposes raritas in the app. crit. of Robertson's text), comparing the situation in 1, 14, where Aristomenes thought Socrates was dead and that he would be accused of his murder (see Introd. 4.1). Smith-Woods 2002, 178 argue along the same lines, and compare e.g. Ps. Quint. dee!. 7, 9, concerning the unreliability of a single witness to a murder occurring in a lonely place. Throughout the tale, Aristomenes is very keen on establishing himself as an eyewitness (see Introd. 3.1.2 with n. 112), but he realises that others will doubt his claim; cf. 1, 14, 5 (13,14 f.). For the dubious nature of Aristomenes' claims to truth see introd. notes on 1, 5, 1 (4, 17 f.) and 1, 11, 5 (10,17 f.). Wiman interprets breuitas ...commeantium differently, observing a close connection with the following sentence (duobus comitum). Breuitas ... commeantium, then, would be a clever elaborate phrase for 'the fact that we were only the two of us'. His interpretation of commeantium (=comitum, 'travelling companions'), however, is extremely forced (see below on commeantium). Earlier editors (e.g. Oudendorp, Hildebrand, Van der Vliet) printed the reading crebritas offered by s (Helm mentions Wower in his app. crit.); in his earlier editions, Helm printed br[eu]itas (followed by Ruebel's recent edition). ThLL s.v. crebritas, 124, 35 (which appeared before Helm ill), explained breuitas as a false tradition of crebitas (thus also Hildebrand ad loc. and ThLL s.v. breuitas, 2187, 59 f.). Although the phrase crebritas ... commeantium can be compared with similar expressions from other authors (e.g. Hier. epist. 3, 2, 2 crebra commeantium multitudo), the emendation is not necessary because the transmitted breuitas gives the best sense in the narrative context and is in accordance with Apuleian usage. commeantium: for commeans in the sense of 'traveller' cf. 6, 18, 5 (142,5 f.) Charon ... ad ripam ulteriorem deducit commeantes; Cypr. epist. 68, 3, 3 fida hospitia et receptacula commeantibus tuta (see ThLL s.v. 1869, 49 f.: 'pergens, proficiscens, viator'); for commeare = 'to travel' cf. 8, 15, 7 (189,4 f.) iter, qua nobis erat commeandum. Perhaps the word connotes purposes of trade as well (cf. e.g. Cic. Man. 55 cum mercibus atque oneribus commeabant); Apuleius uses the noun commeatus in a context of sea trade in 11, 16, 7 (278,23 f.) eae litterae uotum instaurabant de noui commeatus prospera nauigatione (Gwyn Griffiths translates 'the new year's commerce'). Perhaps Aristomenes and Socrates, both tradesmen by profession, find themselves on a trade route; cf. 2, 12, 4 (35,6) qui uiatori celebris (sc. dies) with GCA 2001, 212 ad loc.; Schmidt 1979, 174. For Hypata as a much frequented business town cf. Byrrhena's eulogy in 2, 19, 6 (41,6 f.) negotioso quidem aduenae Romanafrequentia; see also on 1, 5, 4 (3,5 f.). At this early point of the day, however, the route is not busy yet.

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Wiman 1927, 22 interprets commeantium as 'travelling companions', comparing duobus comitum. He takes cam- in a pregnant sense, comparing the grecism inflor. 18, 42 qui mihi Athenis condidicerunt (= o'i'.[µ01 (Jl)V€µa0ov).This sense of the verb commeare is only supported by the Gloss., e.g. (Jl)V08£uw;(Jl_)µcpom:u; simul ambulare. Apuleius uses the verb quite frequently in the met. (9x), but nowhere in the sense given by the Gloss. (see below). Outside the met., there is one possible Apuleian example of commeo with pregnant cam-, Plat. 1, 14 p. 209 (narum) h(fori uia odor cum spiritu commeat, a use which is entirely different from the present one (see above on 1, 19, 3 fl,131 demeare ... remeare). metum mihi cwnulabat: cf. below (1, 19, 12 [ 18,11 f.]) trepidus et eximie metuens; Aristomenes appears still obsessed with the fear of being accused of murder, see on 1, 14, 3 (13,10 f.). In the world of the met., travellers are often depicted as outlaws, exposed to the hostility of aggressive oppressors (Schmidt l 979); in 7, 25, for instance, an innocent passer-by who had coincidentally caught Lucius-ass runs into the aggressive shepherds who falsely accuse him of both stealing the ass and killing the puer. Having appearances against him, he is taken to trial.

1, 19, 5 (17,15-16) Quis enim de duobus comitum alterum sine alterius noxa peremtum crederet? For who would believe that one of two companions had been killed without the other one being guilty? Aristomenes' common sense again makes him realise that appearances are against him; he poses a rhetorical question to his audience that he expects to share his view on the hopelessness of his situation (see on enim); cf. 1, 14, 3 (13,11 f.) cui uidebor ueri similia dicere peiferens uera?, and see Introd. 4.1. For the declamatory phrasing cf. Quint. decl. 259, 9 quis enim hoe crederet posse Jieri, ut ... ; Ps. Quint. decl. 9, 8 quis crederet ... inter duos amicos, quorum alterum immunem malorum omnium fortuna fecerat, alterum piratis ac lanistae tradiderat, meliorem condicionemfuisse captiui? enim: for the use of enim as a consensus particle in rhetorical questions, emphasising the common knowledge of speaker and addressee, see Kroon 1995, 189. duobus comitum: cf. 1, 2, 4 (2, 18 f.) duobus comitum ... tertium me facio. All standard editions retain comitum, including Helm III. In the text of his 1913 edition (Helm I), however, Helm deletes comitum, which he suspects to be a gloss on commeantium. As an alternative, he proposes comitem in his app. crit. Wiman 1927, 22 judges the latter change unnecessary; he defends the transmitted reading by considering duobus comitum as an elaborating explanation (cf. enim) of the previous breuitas commeantium (see above for the textual problem regarding breuitas). Armini 1928, 280 (refuting Helm's objections to Wiman) rightly points out that the partitive genitive comitum is unproblematic and may be connected to both duobus and alterum; Armini 1932, 63 ff. (contra Helm 1930, 507) gives many examples (e.g. 4, 21, 7 [91,7 f.] tribus comitum des ide ratis). sine alterius noxa: for noxa='wrongdoing' see GCA 2000, 148 f. on 10, 8, I (243,1 f.) eum euidenter noxae compertum insui culleo. Elsewhere, the expression sine (ullius) noxa means 'without doing (anyone) any harm', with gen. obi. peremtum: the same spelling in e.g. CE 1281, I; Colum. 9, 14, 6; see ThLL s.v. pe-

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rimo 1473, 19 f.

1, 19, 6 (17,16-17) Verum ille ut satis detruncauerat cibum, s1tire inpatienter coeperat. But he, as soon as he had gulped down enough food, started to feel unbearably thirsty. Socrates' gluttony and unquenchable thirst call to mind the vices of Lucius, who displays both an insatiable hunger (1, 4, 1 [3,22 f.]; see Introd. 3.1.1), and a thirst for novelty (1, 2, 6 [3,4] sititor ... nouitatis). See Introd. 4.3 with n. 152 on Socrates' symptoms (pallor, hunger, thirst) as stock elements from satirical portrayals of the intellectual. ut ... detruncauerat: for the use of ut or ubi with the plusquamperfect, occurring in authors of all periods, see GCA 1981, 179 on 7, 15, 3 (165,16) ubi ... perduxerat with lit.; add KSt 2, 2, 361. detruncauerat: this is the only place where detruncare (usually 'to cut pieces from, mutilate') is used facetiously for 'to devour', in analogy to contruncare; see on 1, 4, 1 (3,23 f.) contruncare. Socrates' gluttony parallels him with Lucius; see introd. note. sitire inpatienter: Socrates' thirst is described in terms of a desire he is unable to cope with. The combination recurs in Salv. eccl. 3, 93 (5th cent.) dum tua inpatienter sitiunt, as a metaphorical expression for greed. Unquenchable thirst, erroneously taken as a symptom of dropsy in antiquity, was used as an image for moral and psychological ailments, especially avarice (see Brink on Hor. epist. 2, 2, 146-148, with further ref.), but also superstition (Bion frg. 34, where these two vices are juxtaposed; see Kindstrand 1976, 241 f. ad loc.). See Introd. 4.3 with n. 152. inpatienter: in Apul. the adverb occurs only here; before him it is only attested in prose (Tac.; Plin. epist.), often with verba desiderandi (e.g. Ps. Quint. decl. 5, 12 p. 96,13 f.). Compare Apuleius' use of impatientia for desires that cannot be controlled any longer in 2, 16, 4 (38,6) inpatientiam ueneris (see GCA 200 I, 256 ad loc.); 10, 3, 1 (238,4) inpatientafuroris.

1, 19, 7 (17,17-20) Nam et optimi casei bonam partem auide deuorauerat, et haud ita longe radices platani lenis fluuius in speciem placidae paludis ignauus ibat argento uel uitro aemulus in colorem. For he had greedily devoured the good part of a most excellent cheese, and there was not far from the plane tree's roots a gentle river lazily loitering in the likeness of a tranquil marsh, vying with silver or glass in respect of its colour. The recurring / and u sounds vividly represent the murmuring of the water (cf. also below exp[ere latice fontis lacteo); see Callebat in MCA 1978, 181. According to De Biasi 1990, 24, the allitteration with p in the abundant expression s[!__eciem [!__lacidae [!__aludis'accentuates the concept of tranquillity'. The passage contains Vergilian allusions, and continues the homage to the Platonic locus amoenus, with the plane tree that had aJready been mentioned (see 1, 18, 8 [17,5 f.] iuxta platanum istam residamus), and the clear river; for the thirst of the plane tree cf. 6, 12, 4 (137,14 f.) sub ilia procerissima platano, quae mecum simul unum fluentum bibit. The Platonic scenery is

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associated with eloquence and philosophy, but it is also a sacred place; cf. the statues and votive offerings mentioned in Phaedr. 230b. The sacred character is represented here by the river, which is called Jons by Aristomenes (see below on I, 19, 8 [18,l] fontis). However, the description contains various elements that emerge with sinister connotations. On the associations of streams and rivers with death in the met. see Nethercut 1968, 111 f. (cf. De Biasi 1990, 24 with n. 99), pointing out that Apuleius links the act of drinking from a source with the troubes of mortality, using an image that embodies the basic figure of the verb ex-anclare (Gr. s~avrAE'iv,see on 1, 16, 2 [14,20] aerumnas exanclasti), viz. 'ex-haurire', draining to the last drop (cf. below on explere). Another gentle stream will also become the scene of death; cf. 4, 4, 3 (77, 12 f.) riuulum quendam serpentis leniter aquae, the place where the second ass who feigns exhaustion is killed by the robbers (4, 5). Psyche almost commits suicide in the locus amoenus of 6, 12, 4 (cited above). The stream in 8, 18, 7 (191,25) praeteifluentis aquae rore is not a symbol for death but for (renewing) life, but later on this locus amoenus turns out to be linked with death (see GCA 1985, 168). The themes of death and (re-)birth are often juxtaposed in the met., as they are in the present passage, where Socrates kneels down curled up in the foetal position before he dies (1, 19, 8 [18,1 f.]). Nam et ... et: in this sentence two reasons for Socrates' sudden thirst are put on a par by et... et, the eating of cheese and the near presence of fresh water. There is no need to take nam et= et, as suggested by Helm in his app. crit. (see also on 1, 2, 1 [2,5] nam et illic). optimi casei: Aristomenes (called optimus comes in 2, 1, 2 [24,22]), sounds the praises of his own merchandise. However, from the fact that Socrates immediately becomes very thirsty we should perhaps take his recommendation with a grain of salt. Columella (7, 8, 5) does not approve of oversalted cheese; salted cheese was considered unhealthy by medical writers (see Auberger 2000, 34). bonam part em: = 'magnam partem'; this archaism (cf. Porph. Hor. sat. 1, 1, 61 bona nunc pro magna dictum, ut saepe Ennius et alii ueteres) lived on in spoken language and is used in satiric writings for people who may be called anything but 'boni'; see KiBel on Pers. 2, 5 at bona pars procerum. In this case we may observe a satirical nudge of the main narrator (Lucius) or the abstract author behind him, who know that the bona pars of the caseus optimus will have very bad consequences for Socrates. We may add the present passage (optimi ... bonam) to the puns with the familiar meaning of bonus collected by Brink on Hor. ars 297 bona pars; cf. also 2, 15, 1 (37,2 f.) quod ultra inducta serie inoportunarum fabularum partem bonam uesperae eiusque gratissimum Jructum amitterem; 10, 26, 1 (257,8 f.) 'medicorum optime, non prius carissimo mihi marito trades istam potionem quam de ea bonam partem hauseris ipse '. Longe:this is the first instance of the adverb Longeused as a preposition with the accusative, the only two other attestations are Sol. 10, 18 non longe Flauiopolim coloniam; 40, 13; see ThLL s.v. longe 1651, 10 f. Apuleius uses the genitive in 5, 9, 3 (110,2) degamus longe parentum. For adverbs used as a preposition see GCA 2001, 225 on 2, 13, 5 (36,3) iuxtim se, with lit.; GCA 2004, 417 on 6, 8, 2 (133,20 f.) retro metas Murtias (also first attested in Apul.). radices platani: see also on 1, 18, 8 (17,5) platanum. The mention of the roots

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points to the fact that the plane tree is drinking herself from the same source as Socrates will drink; cf. 6, 12, 4 (137,14 f.) sub ilia procerissima platano, quae mecum simul unumfluentum bibit. According to Borghini 1991, 7-14 there is Greek evidence for the associations of the platanus with (scenes of) death; none of his examples, however, show an association per se of the plane tree with death, in contrast to e.g. the cypress. lenis jluuius in speciem placidae paludis ignauus ibat: for ibat used for the course of rivers see Bomer on Ov. met. 2, 456 ibat. The expression in speciem with genitive can be interpreted here as a synonym of in modum, 'in the manner of' (see Callebat 1968, 231 f.; ThLL s.v. in 757, 81 f.), thus forming a lively simile (placida palus) illustrating the slowness of the river (lenis, ignauus); cf. Aetna 484 (liquor) .fluminis in speciem mitis procedere ... incipit. The whole phrase is an allusion to Verg. Aen. 8, 88 f. mitis ut in morem stagni placidaeque paludis/ stemeret aequor aquis, where the Tiber subsides for Aeneas; see Gransden ad loc. for the motif of the river yielding to the epic hero (comparing Hom. Od. 5,451 f.). Gransden notes that 'the calming of the river after its spate corresponds to the calming of Aen. 's mind after a troubled night'. However, the elements of calmness in our ecphrasis falsely suggest that the nocturnal troubles of our epic heroes are over (compare the similar function of the epic sunrise in 1, 18, l [16,7 f.]); they are at odds with Aristomenes' mental turmoil (see De Biasi 1990, 24 on the clear antithesis nature - state of mind here). Another significant allusion to Vergil (see below on laticefontis), will reverse the calm river's positive connotations. The transition from a river into a marshy pool of stagnant water may recall a passage from the myth of the Underworld told by Socrates in Plat. Phaed. 112e-114b, where the water of Acheron, which one has to cross to enter the realm of Hades, is described as a river flowing into a Atµvri of the same name (113a), thus combining two separate poetic traditions that mention either the river or the )c{µvl](as noted by Sommerstein on Aristoph. ran. 137 f. lnl )c{µvr7v µi::ya1-riv ~l;w; navu/ c'i~uacmv).The same is said of the Stygian river that produces a )c{µvriof the same name (113b). 1 For the (Acherusian) )..{µvrias the entrance of the Hades cf. also Eur. Ale. 253, 443; Lucian. de luctu 3 ~ 'Ax1::pouala)c{µvl].For the corresponding use of palus for the waters of the Underworld cf. 2, 29, 3 (49,1) Stygiis paludibus; 6, 13, 4 (138,10) Stygias ... paludes (cf. also 6, 18, 8 f142,13] pigrumjluentum); see ThLL s.v. palus 179, 15, 'de aquis infemi', with examples from poetry. The picture of the calming of a stream may suggest a magic phenomenon (cf. 1, 3, 1 [3,11] amnes agiles reuerti), or even metamorphosis. In view of the sinister connotations of the palus, the metamorphosis would be that of a locus amoenus into a locus horridus (cf. De Biasi 1990, 25). Notably, drinking from this water enacts the magic formula from 1, 13, 7 (12,22 f.), and causes Socrates' death. lenis fluuius: lenis will be recalled in 2, 4, 9 (28,4 f.) si fontem, qui deae uestigio discurrens in lenem uibratur undam, aspexeris (see De Biasi 1990, 25 with lit.); see below for more correspondences between these two ecphraseis. Cf. also cf. 4, 4, 3 (77,12 f.) riuulum quendam serpentis leniter aquae, a place connected with death (see above, introd. note). On the stream flowing past as a fixed item in the locus amoenus see GCA 1

Lucian alludes to this passage in his fantastic story of Menippus' descent into the Underworld

(Nekyom. 9), where Menippus and his company, in order to arrive at the spot where they will make the

earth split by magic rituals, have to cross the marsh into which the river Euphrates vanishes (i::lm:rrN:ucraµi::v i::ic; TO1:Aoc; KU! Tl]V A1µvriv de; ~v 6 Eu(jlpan1c;U(jlUVlS!:Tal).

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1985, 168 on 8, 18, 7 (191,25) praete,fiuentis aquae rore; De Biasi 1990, 23 with n. 94. Mattiacci 2001, 850 compares Enn. ann. 173 (163 Sk.) quod per amoenam urbem leni .fluit agmine flumen, reflected in Verg. Aen. 2, 782 leni fluit agmine Thybris. argento uel uitro aemulus in colorem: the apposition 'attached' at the end of the sentence, after the finite verb (see on 1, 4, 4 [4,10] cum ... admiratione) brings out an important further detail of the locus amoenus. In poetry water is often compared to silver or glass, not for its colour but for its clarity and translucency, which is a typical sign of the idyllic source (cf. Plat. Phaedr. 229b). For the combination argento uel uitro Schiesaro 1985, 212 n. 5 compares the famous perennial spring (asvaov Kp~vriv) in Theocr. 22, 37 f., which is so clear that the pebbles in its depths 'show like crystal or like silver' (KpucrraAAu)~o•apy{Jpcy).The rivalry of natural water with silver or glass (which Apuleius associates with human handicraft, cf. 2, 19, 2 [40,16 f.] uitrumJabre sigillatum ... argentum ... clarum; 5, 1, 4 [103,19 f.] mirus ... deus, qui magnae artis suptilitate tantum efferauit argentum) is a reversal of the ecphrasis of the sculptures in Byrrhena's atrium, which embody the topos of ars aemula naturae (2, 4, 7 [28, l l). Here, then, we have an example of the topos of Natura Artifex (cf. Keulen 2000c, 92). argento: silvery water as a poetic element goes back to Greek epithets of rivers (e.g. apyupooivai:;, 'silver-eddying', Hom. ll. 2, 753; cf. Hesiod. theog. 791 o(vu