Metamorphose einer Ehebruchgeschichte in Apuleius’ „Metamorphosen“
Abstract
The adultery tale of the lover in the vat in Apuleius’ „Metamorphoses“ 9.5-7 is a farcial narrative of everyday life, which still allows its reader to recognize the narrative structure of an underlying literary model. In this embedded tale Apuleius presents a modernized version of the famous story of Venus committing adultery with Mars by transferring his characters into the social environment of poor commoners. By means of specific signals the audience is pointed towards the well-known constellation of the famous case of adultery among the gods. The new narrative still carries vestiges of the mythical precedent, in the light of which the narrator’s (Lucius-ass) merry tale about a cuckolded husband can be read. Although the characters of the novel differ considerably from the prototypes of the myth repeatedly adapted in literature, its narrative structure nevertheless remains recognizable as a foil.