Magister vitae, patronus causae: Platonic philosophy and oratory in Apuleius' Apology

Abstract

The Apology is a defense speech given by Apuleius (124?-170?AD) - a roman author of the Antonine period - as a response to the accusation of having used magic to seduce his wife. In view of the fact that all the other remaining works by Apuleius are either about Platonism or allude to Plato's works indirectly, this study attempts to determine the degree to which the Apology can also be said to have been influenced by Plato's works. The first hypothesis to be explored is that Apuleius' speech was modeled after the Apology of Socrates. Besides certain formal similarities, it is specially noticeable that Apuleius creates a rhetorical persona based around the image of the philosopher persecuted by ignorant accusers. In the second part of the dissertation the use of the Platonic dialogues in Apuleius' argument will be analyzed, investigating their importance regarding themes such as love, magic and religion. Finally, in the third part, our investigation will turn to the articulation of philosophy and rhetoric in Apuleius' speech, and the establishment of an image for each one of these types of knowledge. (AU)