Apuleius and drama : the ass on stage, Regine May : book reviews

The present volume is the first such comprehensive study of the influence of drama - principally comedy, but with due attention to tragedy, mime, and pantomime - on Apuleius' work. As the subtitle indicates, the evidence and interest skew heavily toward the sophist's novel, the Metamorphoses or Golden Ass (although May studiously avoids the latter title): eight of the thirteen chapters are devoted to it. The first two chapters lay out the need for a comprehensive study and the case for drama as a living part, not just of sophistic education, but of Roman culture in the second century AD. The case for a living dramatic performance tradition in Apuleius' day remains unfortunately tantalizingly thin: a brief section on 'Theatrical Archaeology in North Africa' (pp. 22-25) points to a relief mask from Khamisa, perhaps from Terence's Eunuch, and friezes decorating the theatre stage at Sabratha, but proof of links to contemporary performances elude us. Comparison of Apuleius' interest in archaism to that of Fronto and Gellius yields more. Situating her work in the company of Finkelpearl's study of literary allusion, May stresses the significance of Plautus for the archaists, not just on a linguistic but also on a literary level.