Editing Apuleius (section)

=== ''The Golden Ass'' ===
{{Main article|The Golden Ass}}
''The Golden Ass'' (''Asinus Aureus'') or ''Metamorphoses'' is the only [[Latin]] novel that has survived in its entirety. It relates the adventures of one Lucius, who introduces himself as related to the famous philosophers [[Plutarch]] and [[Sextus of Chaeronea]]. Lucius experiments with magic and is accidentally turned into an [[donkey|ass]]. In this guise, he hears and sees many unusual things, until escaping from his predicament in a rather unexpected way. Within this [[frame story]] are found many [[story within a story|digressions]], the longest among them being the well-known tale of [[Cupid and Psyche]]. This story is a rare instance of a fairy tale preserved in an ancient literary text.<ref name=":0" />

The ''Metamorphoses'' ends with the (once again human) hero, Lucius, eager to be initiated into the [[mysteries of Isis|mystery cult of Isis]]; he abstains from forbidden foods, bathes, and purifies himself. He is introduced to the ''[[Navigium Isidis]]''. Then the secrets of the cult's books are explained to him, and further secrets are revealed before he goes through the process of initiation, which involves a trial by the elements on a journey to the underworld. Lucius is then asked to seek initiation into the cult of [[Osiris]] in Rome, and eventually is initiated into the ''pastophoroi''&nbsp;– a group of priests that serves Isis and Osiris.<ref>{{citation |last=Iles Johnson |first=Sarah |chapter=Mysteries |title=Ancient Religions |pages=104–105 |publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-674-02548-6}}</ref>