Apuleius' Cupid and Psyche: An Intermediate Latin Reader: Latin Text with Running Vocabulary and Commentary

by Stephen Nimis (Editor), Evan Hayes (Editor), Karen Krumpak (Editor)

The aim of this book is to make the story of "Cupid and Psyche" from Apuleius' The Golden Ass accessible to intermediate students of Ancient Latin. The running vocabulary and grammatical commentary are meant to provide everything necessary to read each page so that readers can progress through the text, improving their knowledge of Latin while enjoying one of the most delightful stories from antiquity. Apuleius' “Cupid and Psyche” is a great text for intermediate readers. Its plot resembles fairy tales such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “Cinderella,” but its literary texture is typical of the rest of the Golden Ass. With its narrative of betrayal and redemption and a harrowing descent into the underworld, the tale of Cupid and Psyche has been viewed as a parallel to the The Golden Ass as a whole, as well as an allegory for the redemption of the soul. But it has also been admired as a light-hearted fairy tale ending in marital bliss – a simple tale told to a frightened captive girl. Like many fairy tales, however, this one includes dark and disturbing elements that also parallel the dark conclusion to the captive girl's own tale in The Golden Ass.

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Baelor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book serves as a guide to Latin students who have completed a basic course of Latin grammar (e.g. Wheelock's, Cambridge). Its focus is on grammar and idiom, which Latin teachers should appreciate as a pedagogical tool.

The limitation of the text is in its inaccuracy. That may seem like a substantial reservation, and it is. I only recommend this book to Latinists who have other commentaries on the texts (Kenney in particular is solid). There are very many grammatical errors in the text, so shaky Latinists should stay away so that they avoid reinforcing bad habits.

I am going to submit a thorough list of typographcial and grammatical errors in the near future, so if the publisher responds to my corrections, the book will be more viable as a reading aid.

[Oakley C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will absolutely admit to being still within the opening stages of Latin (going on four years of independent study) and yes, I'm doing this ON MY OWN with no class or teacher and YES I am having to translate these texts, even when they have commentaries and helps as I still am not quite ready to read these on their own (the Vulgate is a different story)...yet with all of that in mind...what in GOD'S NAME am I reading?

I ask this because I know this story VERY well as I re-read an English translation of it with my students every year (excerpted from the Golden Ass) before we read Till We Have Faces and I am not brand new to classical authors. I have had some great success with Cicero and Sallust among some others and, as mentioned, am very confident in reading the Vulgate. But either Apuleius' diction is so absurdly idiomatic as to make it beyond parody OR the commentary and apparatus is just shoddy as hell. After I translate a page (which at times takes me far, far longer than I can imagine since these are really half pages) and consult my own dictionary and even at times tramp down to wikitionary.org if I truly need to double or triple check...after all of that I then feel compelled to read a the same portion in the English translation I know and the contrast is NIGHT and DAY. How am I possibly producing a translation so different and bizarre on every single page? I looked at other translations for comparison and confronted the same exact issue.

One commenter here claims this work has many inaccuracies. I hope that's true because if it isn't I have somehow taught myself NOTHING.

[meg (the.hidden.colophon) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for Latin V in Fall ‘24.

We loved critiquing the commentary…

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great resource for students! I loved going through this story and the notes/vocab. definitely helped a tonne. The style is exactly what I was hoping for. It has a lot of typos and errors, however, so it could use another round of editing.