O'Brien, Maeve (2015) ‘larvale simulacrum’: Platonic Socrates and the persona of Socrates in Apuleius Metamorphoses 1,1-19. In: Echoing Narratives: Studies of Intertextuality in Greek and Roman Prose Fiction. Ancient Narrative Supplementum (13). Barkhuis Publishing and Groningen University library, pp. 123-138. ISBN 9789077922859

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Abstract

This first episode in Apuleius’ novel includes a story about Socrates related by his companion Aristomenes after Socrates has died. Using the Socrates name in the opening salvo of a novel rather than in a work on education, politics, rhetoric, or philosophy invites explanation. Central to Platonic dialogues the figure of Socrates came to be assessed and used in myriad different ways from Antisthenes onward. Socrates has been the focus of interest in fictional first-person narratives since Plato made him up in his dialogues. 1 Others have studied the persona of Socrates in Plato, Xenophon and Aristotle. 2 Therefore, the presence of Socrates in this tale by the second century Latin writer Apuleius is worthy of a brief note at least, hence this paper. 3 Apuleius is attracted to the well known presentation of Socrates’ death in Crito and Phaedrus, the myth of Theuth in Phaedrus, the famous description of Socrates by Alcibiades in the Symposium, and the one place where he describes himself as handsome in Menexenus. After some introductory remarks, we consider Platonic Socrates as interpreted by Apuleius. Specifically philosophical discourse and Socrates, Socrates as a ‘family man’ and Socrates appearance are discussed but always in the light of how these areas of interest are used and interpreted by Apuleius.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	This is the postprint version of the published chapter.
Keywords:	Apuleius; Metamorphoses 1; Socrates; Intertextuality; Classical fiction; History and criticism; Latin fiction;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > Ancient Classics
Item ID:	7679
Depositing User:	Maeve O'Brien
Date Deposited:	13 Dec 2016 14:55
Publisher:	Barkhuis Publishing and Groningen University library
Refereed:	Yes
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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