University of Groningen
L. Apuleius Madaurensis. The Metamorphoses. A commentary on book III with text &
introduction.
Paardt, Rudolf Theodoor van der
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1971
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Paardt, R. T. V. D. (1971). L. Apuleius Madaurensis. The Metamorphoses. A commentary on book III with
text & introduction. s.n.
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APPENDIX
Cotriositas
In his "Aspects of the Novel" (first ed. rgz7, many reprints) E.M.
Forster divided the characterswhich may be found in a novel into flat
"Flat characters", Forster wrote,r "were called
and rownd ch,q.racters.
humours in the seventeenthcentury, and are sometimescalled types,
and sometimescaricatures.In their purest form, they are constructed
round a singleidea or quality". It cannot be doubted that the hero of
our novel is such a "flat character": the quality round which his
characteris constructedis cwriositas,which marks him both as a biped
and a quadruped.
As a noun cwriositasfirst occursin Cic. Ep. ad Att. II rz,z swm in
cwriositateól$rcewo6.
In his excellentstudy on the history of the word,
Labhardt p. zog suggeststhat the noun is "une création du moment,
un de ces néologismessans lendemain que l'on risque dans une conversation familière, pour l'oublier aussitót". This theory seemsquite
possible;anyhow, we have to wait till Apuleius to find the rvord again,
but then, in the Metam., the noun occurstwelvetimes! In connection
with Lucius it is used five times.
a: III 14 $z,g) twncegofamiliaris atriositatis admonitus.
b: TX tz (zrt,zg) ta.men
atton,itus.
farniliari cwr'iositate
c: IX 13 (ztz,z4) nisi qu,odingenitamihi cwriositaterecyeabar.
d: IX 15 Qr4,3 sqq.) qua.esaeuitiarnulto mihi magisgenwinamcwrio;
sitatemin swosrnzresam.pliaaerat.
praemiurn
e: XI 15 Q77,il cwriositatis inprosperae s'in'ístrurn
reportasti (the priest to Lucius).
We also often fincl the adj. cwriosars
usedin connectionrvith Lucius:
I z (:,5) intpertite sevrnonisnon qwidemcwriosuírn,sed qui uelim scire
ael cwnctaael certeplurima.
II 6 (29,5)at egocuriosusalioqotin(id. IX 4z; zo5,z3).
VII 13 F64,il nam et al,iascuriosws
.....
X zg (z6o,18)cwriosos
ocwlos.... . reficiens.
What exactly is the meaningand function of curiositas? In the most
recent study dealing with cwriositasMiss Wosok pointed out that
1 Pelican-edition p.
T5.Forster's terminology is also used by Wellek & Warren
op. cit. and other leading modern literary critics.
zoB
Lucius' cwriositasis a specialform of curiosity vrz. magical curiosity
@. Zz sq.): "Die cwriosilasdes Lucius ist bei dieser Zielsetzungnicht
anderes als der eigenmáchtige Versuch, in Wissensbereicheeinzudringen, die dem Menschenvon Natur aus verschlossensind. Sie ist
vom Standpunkt einer Offenbarungstheologie- und einen solchen
vertritt die Isisreligion - keine blosseNeugierde,sondernVermessenheit. Auf diesen religiósenAspekt der curiositaskommt es Apuleius
entscheidendan".
Now it may be significantto point out that MissWlosok remarksin a
note to the title of her paper that she encounteredthis problem in
connectionwith her studieson Lactantius and the Gnosis.Perhapsit is
through this backgroundthat sheis, like most othersin recentstudies,
inclined to overemphasize the purely religious and philosophical
aspectsoÍ curiositasin the Golden Ass. Comparisonwith folk-tales
from various parts of the world teachesus that the punishment of idle
curiosity is a commontheme. Scobiep.73 e.g.refersto sometales from
Alice E. Dracott's Simla Village tales, London 19o6,and we may also
point outl the sametheme in the famous Spanishpicaresqueromance
Lazarillo de Tormes.
While I do not acceptthe purely religiousinterpretation of.cwriositas,
neither can I accept Riefstahl's one, rvho (referringto Goethe's"Der
Romanheld muss leidend, wenigstensnicht in hohem Grade wirkend
sein") rightly pointed out that Lucius lacks character and that his
only quality is curiosilas.But then he continues (p. zg): "In dieser
curiositasist die allseitige Aufgeschlossenheitdes Helden frir die Welt
als individueller Charakteratg konkretisiert. Es ist aber ein typisclc
passiaer Ch,arahterzuí,g".
This seemsto be definitely wrong for it is
preciselyLucius' curiositaswhich is an activating elementthroughout
the novel. Scobie p. 72 points out that Apuleius' treatment of the
theme is unique among all the extant ancient romances,- for two
reasons:"firstly he employs curiositasas a means of motivating and
advancingmuch of the action of his narrative .....; secondly,the way
in which he handlesthe theme frequently revealsa distinctly cautionary note, which is sometimesexplicit, sometimesimplicit".
We may thereforeconcludethat curiositasis an important elementin
the whole story, but its religiousmeaningshouldnot be overestimated.
1 Cf. also A. van der Veen about curiosity in Graham Greene and the Flemish
author Marnix Gijsen, De Gids CXXVIII
1965 p. 283 sqq.
209