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Roman Culture In Lucius Apuleius's The Golden Ass

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Ancient Rome has been depicted in various fashions by Roman authors, whose literature may vary from telling fictional tales to chronicling factual history, but in some way share a part of the Roman culture. One recurring aspect of their culture in Roman literature is unequal treatment according to gender, as women are consistently regarded and treated as an inferior people. (Topic) Both in ancient works of literature and modern studies of the Roman Empire, (Argument) the culture can be described as patriarchal (Reason) due to the lack of freedom and respect that women were subjected to. (Topic) One piece of Roman fictional literature that depicts the patriarchal nature of Roman culture is Lucius Apuleius’s “The Golden Ass,” which contains the short story titled “Cupid and Psyche” that revolves around the titular characters’ nonconsensual marriage. (Point) In “Cupid and Psyche,” Psyche’s father …show more content…
(Evidence) Apuleius conveys that, after consulting the Oracle of Apollo regarding his daughter’s inability to find a suitor only to hear that he must offer her to a monster, “…the king returned home and made known the oracle to his wife. For many days she lamented, but at last… the company was made ready to conduct the maiden to her deadly bridal... the marriage hymn concludes in a sorrowful wailing: below her yellow wedding-veil the bride shook away her tears...” (Apuleius). (Explanation 1) Apuleius tells that the king told his wife of what must be done with their daughter, and she grieved her daughter’s fate for days before preparing the sorrowful wedding, in which the girl and town alike wept. (ex2) The king willingly

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