Previous
Isis
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 is the one who first reveals the secrets of the witch Pamphile and how Pamphile uses ointment to turn herself into a bird. Photis becomes Lucius’s accomplice when he steals some of Pamphile’s ointment, but when Lucius tries to use the ointment, he accidentally turns himself into a donkey. Photis tells Lucius that the only cure for his condition is to eat from a rose, but before she can bring him any roses, bandits storm Milo’s house. Photis enables Lucius to follow his own curiosity and in the process helps reveal the danger of too much curiosity.
Photis Quotes in The Golden Ass
The The Golden Ass quotes below are all either spoken by Photis or refer to Photis. 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:
).
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.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Golden Ass LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Photis Character Timeline in The Golden Ass
The timeline below shows where the character Photis appears in The Golden Ass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 2
...about Pamphile’s witchcraft. He rushes back to Milo’s house. He finds it empty except for Photis, the maid, who is preparing food. Lucius finds Photis attractive and tells her that anyone...
(full context)
...and how hair is important because it’s the first thing the eyes see. He likes Photis’s hair because it’s striking, but also because she’s not too “diligent” about it. He kisses...
(full context)
That evening, Lucius has dinner with Milo, and Photis serves them. Milo and Lucius talk about a man they both know called Diophanes who...
(full context)
Soon after Lucius returns to his bedroom, Photis comes in. Lucius lifts up his tunic to show his genitals, then asks for Photis...
(full context)
...three robbers attacking him, but he kills them all with his sword. The noise awakens Photis, who comes out to let Lucius in.
(full context)
Book 3
...to eat with Milo. After eating with Milo, Lucius is met in his room by Photis and finds that she looks like a different girl and has wrinkles. She admits that...
(full context)
Photis tells Lucius she’s keeping secrets about her mistress, Milo’s wife, Pamphile. The mistress has been...
(full context)
Photis explains that Pamphile began a ritual with the goat hair. Using the power of necromancy,...
(full context)
After several nights of sleeping together, Photis tells Lucius that her mistress (Pamphile) is going to transform into a bird in order...
(full context)
Photis gets some ointment for Lucius. He rubs it on himself, but instead of turning into...
(full context)
Lucius is so angry that he considers killing Photis, but he doesn’t because he still needs her help to get back his human body....
(full context)
Book 11
...manage to get back Lucius’s horse, which he hasn’t seen since he left it with Photis in Hypata. Lucius increases his efforts to worship Isis and agrees to follow a prescribed...
(full context)
