The donkey represents the consequences of greed and curiosity. The protagonist and narrator Lucius gets turned into a donkey after he tries to steal a magic transformation ointment from the witch Pamphile. Donkeys traditionally are not considered to be clever animals, and so Lucius’s time as a donkey suggests he is living in ignorance—as well as perhaps being punished for his foolishness in seeking Pamphile’s ointment in the first place. Notably, donkeys are also frequently associated with hard work, and while he is a donkey, Lucius is often forced to carry heavy loads, perform arduous chores, and even accept beatings. Though Lucius is not an exceptionally wealthy man, as a human he enjoyed some privileges as a free citizen, and being turned into a donkey forces him to experience life as someone at the very bottom of society. With the exception of the two brothers (who are enslaved), most of Lucius’s owners treat him cruelly, illustrating how people with low social standing often get taken advantage of. Ultimately, Lucius’s transformation from a donkey back into a man (by eating from a rose) suggests that he has suffered enough from greed and curiosity and learned from his experience as a donkey. The wisdom of Isis (who appears to Lucius in a vision) has both literally and figuratively helped Lucius regain his humanity.
Donkey Quotes in The Golden Ass
My dinner had consisted entirely of my own reports, so I was weighed down by weariness, not food, as I returned to my bedroom and surrendered to the repose I yearned for.
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.
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.
These, with their abundant leaves, look like laurels, and they produce, in the semblance of scented roses, oblong little cups, not quite up to scarlet in hue; they have no scent whatsoever, but in rustic parlance the untaught common people call them laurel roses. As food, these flowers are lethal to every kind of beast.
In a certain city there lived a king and queen who had daughters three in number and illustrious in beauty. Though the two born first were quite gratifying enough to look at, praise and publicity on a mortal scale were held to be adequate for them. But the youngest girl’s gorgeousness was so extraordinary, so remarkable that the poverty of human speech prevented any proper description or even encomium.
But with lamentable dispatch, Fortune (you know her by now), who was inflexible in persecuting me, headed off such a convenient dodge and set up a new ambush for me.
Here, I remember, the greatest peril to my life was played out.
The slaves were brothers, and their master was quite a rich man. One of them was a pastry chef, who stylized breads and honeyed edibles; the other was a cook who flavored chunks of meat with succulent rubs and juices and tenderized them over the fire.
No one believed that such a tame ass needed any special supervision, so with slow, shifty steps I moved gradually away, got to the nearest gateway, and tore out of there at a full gallop.
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.
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.
Donkey Symbol Timeline in The Golden Ass
