[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
In the extensive introduction to the volume, Mateusz Stróżyński clearly outlines the field of inquiry: the reception of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Recent scholarship on the reception of Apuleius has largely concentrated on the medieval and early modern periods, with particular attention to the afterlife of the Metamorphoses in late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. This focus has been decisively shaped by the foundational work of Julia Haig Gaisser[1], whose studies have demonstrated how Apuleius was continuously read, rewritten, moralized, and transformed within premodern literary and intellectual traditions. While this line of research has profoundly enriched our understanding of Apuleius’ historical fortune, it has also left comparatively underexplored the modern and contemporary phases of his reception. It is precisely this gap that The Human Tragicomedy sets out to address. This volume may be regarded as a further stage in a broader scholarly trajectory that has progressively mapped the reception of Apuleius across different historical periods. Within this framework, the pioneering work of Julia Haig Gaisser stands as a fundamental point of reference for the ancient and early reception of Apuleius, while the more recent study by Stephen Harrison and Regine May[2] has substantially advanced our understanding of the author’s fortune between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries[3]. The Human Tragicomedy naturally complements and extends this line of research by shifting the focus to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, thus filling a significant chronological and methodological gap. In doing so, the volume does not merely continue previous scholarship, but also rearticulates it within a new interpretative paradigm, showing how modern and contemporary engagements with the Metamorphoses respond to intellectual concerns that are distinct from, yet deeply connected to, those of earlier periods.
By shifting the focus to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the volume offers a natural continuation—and, in many respects, a conceptual pendant—to Gaisser’s work, extending the history of Apuleius’ reception into a period marked by radical transformations in philosophical thought, literary theory, psychology, and artistic practice The reception in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is by no means a marginal topic, but rather a genuine test case for understanding how an ancient text continues to interact with subsequent cultural paradigms. The chronological framework chosen coincides with a period of radical transformations in Western thought: from the crisis of the modern “grand narratives” to the rise of psychoanalysis, and finally to the new forms of literary and artistic rewriting characteristic of postmodernity.
Edited by Mateusz Stróżyński—who also contributes the substantial introduction, one chapter, and the concluding remarks—the volume is structured into three clearly differentiated parts (The Sun at Midnight, Divine Comedy and Weaving Together Different Tales), each focusing on a distinct aspect of the modern and contemporary reception of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. Despite this formal division, the book displays a strong internal coherence. The three sections are not conceived as self-contained units, but are closely interconnected through a shared methodological perspective that consistently foregrounds the interplay between seriousness and play, philosophy and narrative, religious meaning and literary irony. This coherence is reinforced by the editor’s guiding presence, which ensures that the individual contributions, while diverse in approach and material, converge toward a common interpretative horizon.
Stróżyński carefully reconstructs the twentieth-century debate: from Reitzenstein, who emphasized the mystery and religious elements, to Kerényi, who read Apuleius in a mytho-psychological key, and finally to Winkler, representative of a more playful and deconstructive approach. What emerges is a sometimes-unresolved tension between two poles: on the one hand, readings that have privileged the “serious,” religious-philosophical register, and on the other, interpretations that have emphasized the ironic, narrative, and experimental dimension.
The interpretive framework proposed by the editor as a solution to this polarity is both bold and effective: the category of the human tragicomedy, adopted as a keystone for understanding not only Apuleius’ work but also the history of its reception. This concept functions as a methodological compass because it allows the apparently irreconcilable registers of the novel—the philosophical-religious and the comic-narrative—to be held together. It is therefore not a rhetorical device but a genuine working hypothesis that runs throughout the volume.
The introductory essay, wide-ranging and dense with references, serves almost as a preliminary treatise. Stróżyński demonstrates a refined command of the secondary literature as well as the ability to bring diverse disciplines—classical philology, philosophy, psychology, literary theory—into dialogue. The introduction does not merely contextualize the individual contributions but prepares the reader to perceive Apuleian reception as a process that is never neutral, one in which interpretations continually reflect the tensions and anxieties of modernity. The various studies are divided into three groups.
Part I – The Sun at Midnight
Nicholas Banner’s chapter is one of the densest contributions to the volume. The author addresses the theme of divine ineffability in Book XI of the Metamorphoses, situating it within the framework of Middle Platonism and offering an interpretation that extends the traditional perspective. He identifies in the novel what he calls the “fourth locus” of ineffability in Apuleius, alongside the better-known philosophical works (De deo Socratis, De Platone et eius dogmate, Apologia). While previous scholarship has often treated Book XI either as a doctrinal statement or as a structural problem within the novel, the contributions gathered here tend to foreground the ways in which its religious language and imagery have been reactivated, translated, or reframed in modern intellectual contexts.
The study highlights resonances with figures such as Philo of Alexandria and Plutarch, as well as the implicit dialogue with Neopythagorean currents. Above all, however, it demonstrates how Apuleius—far from being a superficial popularizer—was able to bend the Latin language to express complex categories such as the inexpressibility of the first principle. In this way, the novel emerges not only as an adventurous narrative but also as a vehicle for negative theology: concepts typical of philosophical speculation take shape in literary and symbolic images.
Banner’s contribution is eminently philosophical, demanding for readers unacquainted with technical terminology. Yet it is precisely this density that makes it an important chapter, opening new perspectives and underscoring the centrality of Book XI for understanding Apuleius’ religious thought.
Jakub Handszu’s essay moves onto very different terrain, exploring the Jungian reception of the Metamorphoses. The author reconstructs the readings of Neumann, von Franz, and Hillman, who interpreted the work as a narrative of psychic transformation. Special attention is given to the motif of the asinine metamorphosis, read as a symbol of confrontation with the unconscious and the necessity of integrating rejected aspects of the self.
The first part of the essay is mainly survey-oriented, but useful for understanding how Apuleius became a resource for the modern psychological imagination. In the second part, Handszu proposes a methodological update, suggesting that the categories of analytical psychology can still provide valid interpretive tools in light of recent developments. The strength of the contribution lies in showing the transdisciplinary vitality of Apuleius.
Douglas Hedley focuses on the Apuleian rewriting in C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces, a novel in which the tale of Cupid and Psyche is reinterpreted in a Christian key. The author identifies in Lewis’ work an example of Christian Platonism, based on the dialectic between shame and glory, concepts whose roots lie in the Apuleian story.
The essay is an exemplary case of reception history: it does not limit itself to identifying narrative parallels but reconstructs the philosophical and religious implications of modern reuse. Hedley shows how Latin narrative could continue to nourish theological reflection in the twentieth century, situating Lewis within a tradition that links antiquity with contemporary Christian thought. It is a balanced, clear, and rigorous contribution, distinguished by its capacity for synthesis and depth of interpretation.
Part II – Divine Comedy
Warren Smith adopts an innovative perspective, rereading Book XI—traditionally regarded as a solemn religious turn—in a different light. His thesis is that the Isiac experience does not represent a rupture but instead continues the ironic line that runs through the entire novel. Compared with earlier work that acknowledged comic elements mainly as residual or transitional, Smith’s perspective does not aim to negate the religious dimension of the episode, but rather to complicate it, suggesting that seriousness and irony remain inseparable even at the narrative’s apparent moment of resolution. Whether one accepts all the implications of this approach or not, the chapter offers a stimulating counterpoint to more doctrinal interpretations and contributes meaningfully to the ongoing debate on the tone and function of the novel’s ending.
The argument is stimulating because it destabilizes entrenched interpretations and encourages recognition of the coexistence of seemingly incompatible registers. At the same time, the emphasis on the comic does not entirely diminish the philosophical-religious weight of the text. Overall, this is a valuable chapter, capable of opening fruitful critical discussion and integrating the religious reading with a satirical-ironical perspective.
Stróżyński then returns to C.S. Lewis, extending the inquiry beyond Till We Have Faces and demonstrating how Apuleius’ influence accompanied Lewis throughout his intellectual life. Stróżyński underscores the centrality of the dialectic between the serious and the comic in Lewis’ work, both in his fiction and in his philosophical reflections.
The essay, strongly interpretive in tone, reflects the lines already drawn in the introduction and contributes to strengthening the overall thesis of the human tragicomedy. It offers a coherent picture of Apuleius’ reception in twentieth-century thought.
Part III – Weaving Together Different Tales
Łukasz Berger offers an original analysis by applying the theories of (im)politeness to the novel, with particular attention to Lucius’ verbal interactions in the opening sections. This microtextual approach shows how the management of politeness and verbal aggression mirrors the protagonist’s gradual metamorphosis.
The contribution situates itself within the recent line of discourse analysis inaugurated by Evelyn Adkins[4] and represents a successful example of how contemporary linguistic tools can illuminate ancient texts. Although it requires readers familiar with technical categories, the results are convincing and open a fruitful dialogue between stylistics, pragmatics, and broader interpretation.
Andrea Musio explores a less-studied field: the presence of Apuleius in Italian theater and cinema of the twentieth century. The adaptations analyzed reveal how the novel has been reinterpreted primarily in spectacular and comic terms, with the religious dimension almost entirely absent.
This contribution is largely historical-descriptive: it offers a careful reconstruction, valuable for opening a new front of research, shifting the focus from philology to contemporary cultural and performative history.
The volume concludes with an essay by the editor on contemporary reception, particularly in the novels of Anthony Doerr and Olga Tokarczuk as well as some recent cinematic works. Stróżyński demonstrates how Apuleius is now primarily reimagined as a narrative and linguistic laboratory, a mirror of the fragmentariness and multiplicity typical of modernity.
If the philosophical-religious dimension is less central, this does not diminish the vitality of the original text, which continues to stimulate new forms of rewriting. This wide-ranging contribution is rich in insights and effectively documents the resilience of the Apuleian tradition in the twenty-first century.
Conclusion
The hardcover volume, the twenty-sixth in the series “Metamorfs. Studies in the reception of classical antiquity”, is produced to a high editorial standard, with no noticeable typographical errors. Apart from Nicolai Abildgaard’s painting reproduced on the cover, the book contains no illustrations.
Stróżyński’s conclusion returns to the guiding thread of the human tragicomedy, underscoring how the reception of Apuleius reflects the cultural changes of modernity and postmodernity. He recalls the ancient idea that a great poet should write both tragedy and comedy: a reference that encapsulates his interpretation of the Golden Ass as a liminal, universal, and polyphonic work.
The volume stands out for the breadth of perspectives and methodological variety: from Platonism to linguistic analysis, from analytical psychology to the history of theater and cinema. Overall, the work appears balanced and coherent.
The editor’s imprint is strong, ensuring a solid guiding thread that prevents dispersion. While the volume is highly coherent, it must also be acknowledged that, the strong interpretative framework proposed by the editor while undoubtedly productive, occasionally risks homogenizing the diverse contributions. In some chapters, alternative perspectives or tensions within the modern reception of Apuleius might have been allowed to emerge more fully, rather than being implicitly aligned with the overarching paradigm. Finally, although the volume convincingly demonstrates the vitality of Apuleius’ reception in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the chronological and geographical focus remains predominantly Eurocentric. A more explicit engagement with non-European or global receptions—especially in contemporary literature and media—might have further enriched the picture and strengthened the claim to modernity in a broader sense.
These points, however, do not detract significantly from the overall achievement of the book, which succeeds in opening a coherent and stimulating field of inquiry and in providing a solid foundation for future research on the modern afterlives of Apuleius’ Golden Ass. The Human Tragicomedy does not merely document the modern and contemporary reception of the Metamorphoses but also offers a comprehensive interpretation: Apuleius continues to speak to us as the author of a work in which laughter and the sacred, the comic and the tragic, are inextricably intertwined, offering an image of the human condition that the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have recognized as their own.
Authors and titles
Introduction: Lucius’ Wandering into the New Millennium, Mateusz Stróżyński
- The Ineffable and the Arcane in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, Nicholas Banner
- Apuleius’ Metamorphoses: a Jungian Perspective, Jakub Handszu
- Shame and Glory: C.S. Lewis and the Tale of Cupid and Psyche, Douglas Hedley
- Humour and Satire in Book Eleven of The Golden Ass, Warren S. Smith
- The Divine Joke: C.S. Lewis and The Golden Ass, Mateusz Stróżyński
- Lucius’ Games of Politeness, Łukasz Berger
- The Reception of Apuleius in Italian Theatre and Cinema, Andrea Musio
- Au hasard, Apuleius? The Uses of The Golden Ass in the Twenty-First Century Novel and Cinema, Mateusz Stróżyński
Conclusion: Quiring to the Young-Eyed Cherubins, Mateusz Stróżyński
Notes
[1] J. H. Gaisser, The Fortunes of Apuleius and the Golden Ass: a Study in Transmission and Reception, Princeton 2008.
[2] S. Harrison – R. May, Apuleius in the European Literature: Cupid and Psyche since 1650, Oxford 2024.
[3] The final chapter, devoted to the reception of Apuleius in the twentieth century, may in some respects be regarded as a gateway to Stróżyński’s volume as a whole.
[4] See E. Adkins, Discourse, Knowledge, and Power in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, Ann Arbor 2022.