Augustine and Apuleius and Rome’s Favorite Religion

Abstract:     
In an age of television, movies, virtual amusement parks and video entertainment centers, the need for literary enjoyment appears to have declined considerably in recent years. In spite of the increasing number of college graduates scattered throughout the world, interest in old fables and works of great literary scholarship seem among most readers as dull, tedious, and extremely laborious. Nevertheless, occasionally in today’s impending cybernetic ploy for man’s future, one is fortunate enough to be exposed to something other then the lobotomizing products of the scientific revolution. Apuleius’ The Golden Ass and Peter Brown’s Augustine of Hippo represent two literary classics that transcend modern anecdotes prescribed to prevent mundane boredom. In their entirety, they symbolize the broad spectrum of religious myths and philosophical thought that have come to dominate modern and post-modern culture today. Individually, both these works represent two separate journeys that lead the adventurer upon very similar discoveries and outcomes. Thus, the aim of this essay is to illuminate the reciprocities that distinguish and connect these two literary works.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 8

Keywords: review, literature, The Golden Ass, Post-Modern, History

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