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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 can acquire roses that will allow him to turn back into a man. Isis’s vision proves correct, and so in gratitude, Lucius continues to serve Isis. The book ends with Lucius becoming a happy, devout member of the cult of Isis. Despite all the tribulations Lucius goes through over the course of The Golden Ass, the happy ending with Isis suggests that loyalty and persistence are sometimes rewarded.
Isis Quotes in The Golden Ass
The The Golden Ass quotes below are all either spoken by Isis or refer to Isis . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 1 Quotes
Okay, let me weave together various sorts of tales, using the Milesian mode as a loom, if you will. Witty and dulcet tones are going to stroke your too-kind ears—as long as you don't turn a spurning nose up at an Egyptian papyrus scrawled over with an acute pen from the Nile. I’ll make you wonder at human forms and fortunes transfigured, torn apart but then mended back into their original state.
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Book 11 Quotes
Lo, I come to your aid, Lucius, moved by your pleas—I, the mother of the universe, queen of all the elements, the original off-spring of eternity, loftiest of the gods, queen of the shades, foremost of the heavenly beings, single form of gods and goddesses alike.
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Soon, shaved to the skin again, I went joyfully about the duties of this venerable priesthood, founded in the time of Sulla. I did not cloak or conceal my baldness, wherever I went and whomever I met.
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Isis Character Timeline in The Golden Ass
The timeline below shows where the character Isis appears in The Golden Ass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 11
...and says she is moved by his pleas. She reveals her true name to be Isis.
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Isis takes pity on Lucius and promises he’ll be greeted by a priest with a garland...
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Lucius eagerly plans to follow the instructions Isis gave him. Later, a grand procession comes by, with many people offering prayers, music, and...
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...grand procession continues. Lucius begins to dedicate his life to the worship of the goddess Isis and befriends her priests. The priests somehow manage to get back Lucius’s horse, which he...
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...he is not allowed to describe to the reader. To better serve the cult of Isis, Lucius moves to Rome. He gets more and more involved with his new religion but...
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