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Tlepolemus (Haemus)
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 into a bird so that she can approach a potential lover. This is what inspires Lucius himself to try the potion, which is how he gets turned into a donkey, an event that drives much of his conflicts for the rest of the novel.
Pamphile Quotes in The Golden Ass
The The Golden Ass quotes below are all either spoken by Pamphile or refer to Pamphile. 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 2 Quotes
Well, I was a curious person. The moment I heard the word witchcraft, representing my lifelong aspiration, I shrugged off any need to play it safe with Pamphile.
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Book 3 Quotes
Helplessly surveying this new body, I saw I was not a bird but a donkey. I wanted to complain to Photis, but human voice and gesture had been taken from me.
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Pamphile Character Timeline in The Golden Ass
The timeline below shows where the character Pamphile appears in The Golden Ass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 2
...on them. Byrrhena tells Lucius to make himself at home. Then she warns him about Pamphile, a dangerous witch who is married to Milo and who becomes obsessed with every good-looking...
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Despite Byrrhena’s warning, Lucius is actually excited to learn more about Pamphile’s witchcraft. He rushes back to Milo’s house. He finds it empty except for Photis, the...
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Book 3
Photis tells Lucius she’s keeping secrets about her mistress, Milo’s wife, Pamphile. The mistress has been trying to seduce a young man in his 20s. As part...
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Photis explains that Pamphile began a ritual with the goat hair. Using the power of necromancy, she unintentionally created...
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After several nights of sleeping together, Photis tells Lucius that her mistress (Pamphile) is going to transform into a bird in order to swoop down on the one...
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