The Elegiac Ass: The Concept of Servitivm Amoris in Apuleius' Metamorphoses

Abstract

Seruitium amoris, the notion of love as slavery, is a frequent theme in Roman elegy. It inverts Roman reality in representing a free Roman citizen dominated by a woman, evidently from a lower social class. The elegiac amator (‘lover’) elevates his beloved puella (‘girl’) and treats her as a slave would treat his mistress (domina), obeying her orders and yielding to her wishes and moods. Although it has been widely observed that Lucius, the protagonist of Apuleius' Metamorphoses, acts like a slave towards his beloved, the slave girl Fotis, the idea of elegiac seruitium amoris has not been analysed systematically as an explanation of this strange relationship, and affinities between the Metamorphoses and Roman elegy have even been denied altogether. To date, most investigations have focused not on the mode but on the consequences of Lucius' servile behaviour, culminating in his transformation into an ass and a series of painful adventures brought to an end by the intervention of the goddess Isis.My discussion will argue that in presenting Lucius and Fotis as an elegiac couple, Apuleius adds yet another form of love to the broad spectrum of relationships between the sexes that he presents in the Metamorphoses. It will also contend that by introducing the theme of seruitium amoris, he helps his audience interpret the complex and richly described relationship between protagonist and slave, a key theme throughout the work.