Old and Forgotten Ways

In the past, we have examined literary characters and their role in the evolution of the folkloric witch. Today, we consider an author whose work expanded the tradition, but also left him vulnerable to a charge of being a witch himself: Apuleius. Apuleius’ best-known literary work is his version of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, contained in his novel Metamorphoses (notably retold by C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman as Till We Have Faces ). However, Apuleius’ Apologia –delivered at his trial for bewitching a North African widow into marrying him—has also come down to us. It is this unusual document that we will be discussing today. Those familiar with Renaissance witch trials will immediately notice several common threads in Apuleius’ defense. Witchcraft, as an invisible crime, was notoriously tricky for prosecutors to handle when it came to gathering evidence. Typically, a conviction required a confession on the part of the accused (even if forced) as only circumstantial evidence c...