Apuleius, Rhetorical Works (Apologia or De magia; Florida; De deo Socratis)

John Hilton (University of Kwa-Zulu Natal)
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Apuleius, the second-century sophist from Madauros in Roman Africa, was a prolific author. In addition to his most studied novel,

The Metamorphoses

, many other works on a wide variety of subjects ranging from science and logic to agriculture were attributed to him in antiquity and in the medieval period. Many of these are lost and not all those that survive have been accepted as genuine by modern scholars. Among them, however, are an undoubtedly authentic group that can be labelled ‘rhetorical’ because they share the same flamboyant and exhibitionist style. These are the

Apologia

, otherwise known as

Pro se de magia

, the

Florida

, and the

De deo Socratis

. They are of great interest to the study of literature for three main reasons. First, they are worth studying for their own sake as…

1433 words

Citation: Hilton, John. "Rhetorical Works (Apologia or De magia; Florida; De deo Socratis)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 January 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34871, accessed 19 March 2024.]

34871 Rhetorical Works (Apologia or De magia; Florida; De deo Socratis) 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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