Medioplatonic Aspects in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses
Medioplatonic Aspects in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses

Summary/Abstract: Apuleius’ generation was caught in the passage from philosophic monotheism to that form of imperial henotheism whose aim was to counteract the tension between philosophy and popular religiosity. It can be affirmed that terminology, vocabulary and especially the motive of discreetness and the prudence in the use of defining syntagmatic expressions are a common fact of Medioplatonism. Author’s attitude is that of a philosopher resorting to the mystic cults, plainly aware of their value and, not the last of the things, of the worship responsibilities devolving on a deliberate attachment. The prudence charac‑ terizing the discourse on the ineffable nature of the divinity dwells rather on the meaning and requirement of Platonic mysteries, as they were translated and interpreted by Medioplatonism, in its semi­literal manner, current that Apuleius joined on a base of a certain familiarity from a stylistic and thematic point of view.

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