Lucius
Lucius is the narrator of The Golden Ass, although his name isn’t revealed until well into the first book of the novel. The title of The Golden Ass refers to how Lucius gets turned…
read analysis of Lucius
Psyche
Psyche is the third daughter of a king and queen—one of the most beautiful mortals in all the world and the eventual wife of Cupid. Her story, the longest in the book, is told…
read analysis of Psyche
Cupid
Cupid is a mischievous love god who is the son of Venus and the eventual husband of Psyche. His story is told by the old hag to Charite, while Lucius is also present…
read analysis of Cupid
Isis
Isis is an Egyptian goddess and the wife of the god Osiris. She appears to Lucius in a dream (while he’s still a donkey), taking pity on him and telling him how he…
read analysis of Isis
Photis
Photis is the attractive maid who works in the house of Milo and Pamphile. Her hair is particularly striking to the narrator, Lucius. She has sex with Lucius on many occasions, and she…
read analysis of Photis
Get the entire The Golden Ass LitChart as a printable PDF.
Charite (The Hostage)
Charite is the hostage of the thieves who sack Milo and kidnap Lucius (in donkey form). She has a fiancé (later revealed to be Tlepolemus). The thieves intend to keep Charite in order to…
read analysis of Charite (The Hostage)
Old Hag
The old hag is an unnamed older woman who works for the thieves who sack Milo and who kidnap Lucius and Charite. The old hag tells the longest story-within-a-story in the entire work: the…
read analysis of Old Hag
The Jealous Wife
The jealous wife is first introduced as an eccentric wealthy woman who wants to have sex with Lucius while he’s still a donkey. Later, more of her story is revealed, and it turns out…
read analysis of The Jealous Wife
Tlepolemus (Haemus)
Tlepolemus is the cousin and fiancé of Charite. He disguises himself as Haemus in order to infiltrate the lair of the thieves who have kidnapped Charite, then tricks all the thieves into drinking a…
read analysis of Tlepolemus (Haemus)
Pamphile
Pamphile is the wife of Milo and the mistress of the maid Photis. It is an open secret that Pamphile is a witch, and one night Lucius witnesses her using an ointment to turn…
read analysis of Pamphile
Milo
Milo is a man living in Hypata, who is visited by the narrator Lucius. Milo’s wife is the witch Pamphile, who uses an ointment to turn into bird (the same ointment that will…
read analysis of Milo
The Pauper’s Wife
The pauper’s wife is a character in a story that Lucius hears while staying in a hostel with Philebus’s group. She is married to a poor artisan, referred to as the pauper. Like…
read analysis of The Pauper’s Wife
The Baker
The baker is yet another cruel owner of Lucius (as a donkey). He forces Lucius to do mill work. Like many characters, he has an unfaithful partner. The baker tells his spouse, the baker’s…
read analysis of The Baker
Aristomenes (The Wayfarer)
Aristomenes is a traveler who has an unnamed traveling companion and who runs into Lucius on the road. Aristomenes tells one of the first stories-within-a-story in The Golden Ass, about an encounter with his…
read analysis of Aristomenes (The Wayfarer)
Socrates
The Socrates who appears as a character in The Golden Ass is not the famous Socrates, but simply an old friend of the wayfarer Aristomenes who happens to have the same name as the philosopher…
read analysis of Socrates
The Baker’s Wife
The baker’s wife is the unfaithful spouse of the cruel baker who owns Lucius (as a donkey). Her cheating is perhaps what inspires the baker to tell her the story of the fuller’s wife…
read analysis of The Baker’s Wife
The Fuller’s Wife
The fuller’s wife is the wife of a laundry worker (a fuller) and a character in the story that the baker tells his spouse, the baker’s wife. Her story bears some similarities to…
read analysis of The Fuller’s Wife
Thrasyllus
Thrasyllus is a rich but rough-mannered young man who was one of Charite’s suitors before she got engaged to Tlepolemus. Thrasyllus still holds a grudge, however, and he conspires to kill Tlepolemus when…
read analysis of Thrasyllus
Byrrhena
Byrrhena is a woman in Hypata who claims to have acted as a mother figure to Lucius, although he doesn’t remember much about her. She frequently offers her hospitality to Lucius, but Lucius is…
read analysis of Byrrhena
The Fuller
The fuller is a laundry worker whose spouse (the fuller’s wife) is cheating on him. They both appear in a story that the baker tells his own unfaithful spouse, the baker’s wife. The…
read analysis of The Fuller
Meroe
Meroe is an old innkeeper who is secretly a witch. She is vengeful, particularly when it comes to sex. When Socrates sleeps with her, then tries to leave, Meroe takes everything he has and curses…
read analysis of Meroe
Thelyphron
Thelyphron is a man who tells a story at a feast hosted by Byrrhena while Lucius is in attendance, too. He agrees to guard a corpse overnight for a widow, to protect its face…
read analysis of Thelyphron
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god and the husband of Isis. After Isis helps Lucius return to human form by finding roses, Lucius devotes himself to the cult of Isis. Later, Osiris also appears…
read analysis of Osiris
The Widow
The widow comes from a story told by Thelyphron at a feast hosted by Byrrhena. She appears to be mourning her husband and hires Thelyphron to help guard the corpse from witches, but in…
read analysis of The Widow
The Pauper
The pauper is a poor artisan who falls for the tricks of his unfaithful wife. The pauper’s wife manages to conceal a lover by having him hide inside a jar, and the pauper doesn’t realize…
read analysis of The Pauper
Philebus
Philebus is one of Lucius’s owners (when he’s a donkey) and part of a group of priests who use religious trappings to disguise their sex work. Like most of Lucius’s owners, Philebus treats…
read analysis of Philebus
The Three Sons
In a story Lucius hears, the three sons help their father, a farmer whose land is threatened by a greedy landlord. During fights with the landlord, one son is killed by attack dogs, and…
read analysis of The Three Sons
The Farmer
In a story Lucius hears, the farmer has three sons and gets into a dispute with a greedy landlord. Though the landlord is eventually killed, the three sons die in the process, and the…
read analysis of The Farmer
The Landlord
The landlord is a greedy figure in a story Lucius overhears who tries to kick a poor farmer off the land. The farmer’s three sons intervene, and though the landlord manages to kill two of…
read analysis of The Landlord
Pythias
Pythias was a school friend of Lucius who happens to run into him in Hypata while he’s staying with Milo. Pythias is the first to call Lucius by name, and though the two are…
read analysis of Pythias
Proserpina
Proserpina is a goddess who was abducted and forced to live in the underworld. Her story isn’t recounted in The Golden Ass, but she plays a role in the story of Cupid and Psyche…
read analysis of Proserpina
The Stepmother
The stepmother is involved in a terrible crime that Lucius overhears (as a donkey) while under the ownership of the soldier. She lusts after her stepson who rejects her. After this rejection, she…
read analysis of The Stepmother
The Stepson
The stepson is part of the story of a terrible crime that Lucius hears about (as a donkey) while under the ownership of the soldier. His stepmother falls in love with him, but…
read analysis of The Stepson
The Biological Son
The biological son is part of the story of a terrible crime that Lucius hears about (as a donkey) while under the ownership of the soldier. The biological son is accidentally poisoned by…
read analysis of The Biological Son
The Two Brothers
The two brothers are both enslaved and work for a rich man. One is a pastry chef and the other is a cook. When Lucius is a donkey, they are arguably his most compassionate…
read analysis of The Two Brothers
Thrasyleon
Thrasyleon is a (deceased) member of the group of thieves who sack Milo and kidnap Lucius (in donkey form). One of his companions tells a story about how Thrasyleon tried to rob the gladiator Demochares…
read analysis of Thrasyleon
Minor Characters
Thiasus
Thiasus is a wealthy freedman who becomes Lucius’s owner (when he’s a donkey) after the enslaver of the two brothers hands Lucius over as a gift. He is Lucius’s owner when Lucius gets involved with the jealous wife, and ultimately, Lucius runs away from him.
The Soldier
The soldier is another one of Lucius’s many owners while he’s a donkey. He is cruel and takes Lucius by force rather than buying him, only to sell Lucius to the two brothers later.
Ass-boy
The ass-boy is briefly one of Lucius’s masters (while he’s still a donkey), right after Lucius escapes from the robbers who sacked Milo. The ass-boy treats Lucius cruelly and beats him but is soon mauled by a bear.
Chryseras
Chryseras is a money-changer in Thebes who was a previous target of the same thieves who sack Milo and kidnap Lucius (in donkey form). Many noteworthy thieves die during the attempted robbery, including Lamachus and Alcimus.
Lamachus
Lamachus is the deceased leader of the thieves who sack Milo and kidnap Lucius (in donkey form). He dies attempting to rob Chryseras, and his death causes the thieves to look for new recruits, which is how Tlepolemus manages to disguise himself as Haemus.
Alcimus
Alcimus is another high-ranking (but deceased) member of the group of thieves who sack Milo and kidnap Lucius (in donkey form). He dies before those events happen, during a botched robbery in Thebes.
Demochares
Demochares is a gladiator who becomes a target for thieves. During a botched robbery attempt on Demochares’s manor, Thrasyleon dresses up as a bear and gets killed while still wearing the bear’s skin.
Ceres
Ceres is the goddess of agriculture. She plays a minor role in the story of Cupid and Psyche, helping Psyche fulfill one of Venus’s tasks, but she doesn’t help too much, out of fear of offending Venus.
Jupiter
Jupiter is king of the gods. He appears primarily in the story of Cupid and Psyche, where he decides to make Psyche immortal in order to pacify Venus by giving her son a suitable match.
Juno
Juno is queen of the gods. She plays a minor role in the story of Cupid and Psyche, wanting to aid Psyche but afraid to go too far out of fear of offending Venus.
Apollo
Apollo is the god of the sun and prophecy. He plays a minor role in the story of Cupid and Psyche when he offers the prophecy that Psyche will marry an inhuman snake creature that will destroy the world.
Mercury
Mercury is the messenger god. In the story of Cupid and Psyche, he helps Venus issue a proclamation to help track down Psyche.
