Apologia

insult is more than he can bear. If, however, I seem to be anxious to rebut charges which are merely frivolous and foolish, the blame must be laid at the door of those, to whom such accusations, in spite of their triviality, can only bring disgrace. I am not to blame. Ridiculous as these charges may be, their refutation cannot but do me honour.

Chapter 4

To begin then, only a short while ago, at the commencement of the indictment The formal legal charge or accusatio brought against him in the proconsular court., you heard them say, ‘He, whom we accuse in your court, is a philosopher of the most elegant appearance and a master of eloquence not merely in Latin but also in Greek!’ What a damning insinuation! Unless I am mistaken, those were the very words with which Tannonius Pudens A legal advocate hired by the prosecution to present the case against Apuleius., whom no one could accuse of being a master of eloquence, began the indictment. I wish that these serious reproaches of beauty and eloquence had been true. It would have been easy to answer in the words, with which Homer makes Paris reply to Hector:—

original: οὔ τοι ἀπόβλητ’ ἐστὶ θεῶν ἐρικυδέα δῶρα· / ὅσσα κεν αὐτοὶ δῶσιν, ἑκὼν δ’ οὐκ ἄν τις ἑλοῖτο. These lines come from the Iliad (3.65-66). Apuleius uses classical literature to show that physical beauty is a divine gift, not a crime.

which I may interpret thus: ‘The most glorious gifts of the gods are in no wise to be despised; but the things which they are wont to give are withheld from many that would gladly possess them.’ Such would have been my reply. I should have added that philosophers are not forbidden to possess a handsome face. Pythagoras An ancient Greek philosopher (c. 570–495 BC) often cited as the first to call himself a 'philosopher' (lover of wisdom) rather than a 'sophist' (wise man)., the first to take the name...