EDITIONS SR Volume 25 The Religious Dreamworld of Apuleius' Metamorphoses: Recovering a Forgotten Hermeneutic James Gollnick Published for the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion/ Corporation Canadienne des Sciences Religieuses by Wilfrid Laurier University Press 1999 This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for our publishing activities. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Gollnick, James Timothy The religious dreamworld of Apuleius' Metamorphoses : recovering a forgotten heremeneutic (Editions SR ; v. 25) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-88920-300-8 1. Apuleius. Metamorphoses. 2. Dreams in literature. I. Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion. II. Title. III. Series. PA6217.G64 1999 873.48'.01 C98-932452-4 © 1999 Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion / Corporation Canadienne des Sciences Religieuses Cover design by Leslie Macredie using a photograph of a Roman statue of Isis (© The British Museum) Θ Printed in Canada The Religious Dreamworld of Apuleius ' Metamorphoses has been produced from camera-ready copy supplied by the author. All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic or mechanical—without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or reproducing in information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to the Canadian Reprography Collective, 214 King Street West, Suite 312, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S6. Order from: Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5 Contents Acknowledgments and Credits ν Abbreviations vii Foreword ix Chapter 1. The Dreamworld as Hermeneutical Perspective 1 2. Literary Dreams and the Nature of the Metamorphoses ... 13 3. Dream Interpretation in the Second Century 31 4. Dreams in the Metamorphoses 53 5. The Eros and Psyche Myth: Psychological Interpretations 81 6. The Eros and Psyche Myth: An Archetypal Dream 107 7. Lucius' Religious Experience 127 Conclusion 153 Selected Bibliography 155 Index 172 iii t his page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments and Credits I am grateful to Stephen Jones, Debbie Thurling-Gollnick, Herbert Richard- son and Doreen Armbruster for their assistance in preparing this manu- script. Quotations from J. Winkler's Auctor and Actor: A Narratological Read- ing of Apuleius' Golden Ass are reprinted by permission of the University of California Press. Quotations from J. Lindsay's translation of The Golden Ass are reprinted by permission of the Indiana University Press. Quotations from J. Griffiths' translation of The his Book. Metamor- phoses 11 are reprinted by permission of E.J. Brill Publishers. The cover photograph of the Isis statue is reprinted by permission of The British Museum. ν t his page intentionally left blank Abbreviations AA Aspects of Apuleius ' Golden Ass AC L'Antiquité Classique AJP American Journal of Philology AP Amor und Psyche BAGB Bulletin de Γ Association G. Budé CW Collected Works of C.G. Jung GA The Golden Ass (translated by J. Lindsay) GAA The Golden Ass (translated by Wm. Adlington) G&R Greece and Rome HSCP Harvard Studies in Classical Philology IB The Isis Book (translated by J. Griffiths) IL L'Information Littéraire JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies JTS Journal of Theological Studies LCM Liverpool Classical Monthly Met. The Metamorphoses MPL Museum Philologum Londiniense OLZ Orientalistische Literaturzeitung PCPS Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society PLL Papers on Language and Literature REA Revue des études anciennes REL Revue des études latines RPh Revue de Philologie SE Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud TAPA Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Associ- ation WJA Würzburger Jahrbücher fur die Altertumswissenschaft ZAS Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde ZDMG Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft ZPE Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik vii t his page intentionally left blank Foreword T his study of Apuleius' Metamorphoses seeks to add to an appreciation of Apuleius the dreamer and the second-century dreamworld in which he lived and wrote. It proposes (1) to show the importance of dreams and the dreamworld to the Metamorphoses; (2) to view the dreamworld of this novel as an accurate reflection of the second-century perspective on dreams, espe- cially those affecting religious transformation; and (3) to offer historical background on the current interest in the role of dreams in psychological and spiritual transformation. Interest in dreams has grown throughout the twentieth century starting with the publication of Freud's monumental Interpretation of Dreams. The important role of dreams in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy as well as the large-scale research effort in dream laboratories since the 1950s testify to this interest, as does the growth of grass-roots dream work in the last two decades. As Wendy Doniger and Kelly Bulkeley point out, one reason to study dreams is to gain insights into the religious concerns of humankind. Humans have been exploring their dreams for millennia, and these explorations have most often been conducted in religious terms and contexts. Thus, if mod- ern dream researchers aspire to a truly comprehensive understanding of dreams and dreaming, they must draw upon the historical work of religious studies.1 This present study attempts to deepen our understanding of the religious roots of dream interpretation and to offer some historical perspective. The Metamorphoses is generally considered to be the book's original name because it is the title found on extant manuscripts. The more familiar title, The Golden Ass, has often been used in translations since the Renaissance2 and is first found in Augustine's City of God (Book 18) where, some critics say, Augustine used it as a sign of contempt for Apuleius, who was an authority in the enemy (pagan) camp. Over the years, though, the meaning of this title has been vigorously debated. James Tatum, for instance, explains that asinus aureus (golden ass) is a colloquial, non-contemptuous phrase meaning "the first-class ass" or "darling donkey."3 He also reminds Notes to the Foreword are on p. xiii. IX