GCSE Latin Literature: Prose - Apuleius Notes

Line 1a

Miletus is a town and important place in southwest Asia Minor, very far from Thessaly

Line 1b

Olympic games held in Olympia in a region called the Peloponnese, Thelyphron still has a long way to go

Line 2

Apuleius' geography is suspect, he did not travel through the whole of Thessaly, exaggerating his story

Lines 4-5

change of tense from the past to the historic present, marks an important part of the story and makes it more vivid

Lines 5-7

alliteration of 'm' and assonance of 'um' emphasises the gloomy nature of the job

Which words emphasise the gloom in Lines 5-7?

mortuum, magnum, praemium, accepturum

Lines 8-9

short, snappy questions; 2nd question is rhetorical

Line 9

aufugere is placed emphatically

Lines 7-13

direct speech, makes the passage more vivid and lifelike

Lines 10-11

use of second person ('es', 'te', 'nescis'), makes it more vivid

Line 12

assonance = 'or', emphasises the gloomy nature of the job

Which words in Line 12 emphasise the gloomy nature of the job?

mortuorum, demorsicant

How is the importance of keeping awake emphasised in Line 15?

'totam' is placed at the beginning of the clause, 'eximie'

Lines 16-17

'apertis ... intentis' are in closing order which emphasises the importance of keeping awake

How is the description of the witches heightened in Line 17?

the superlative 'pessimae' - very evil, 'latenter' - secretly, 'arrepant' - creep up

Lines 21 + 23

'statim', quickens the pace

Lines 21-22

repeated 'm', could represent the young man's excitement

Lines 23-34

'perducit' and 'demonstrat'; historic present - make the scene more vivid, hurry the pace by condensing the details of his journey

Lines 24-26

'fuscis' and ' splendentibus', detail of precise colours, the reader can imagine the details

Line 26a

there is a build to learning what covers the body, 'relelavit' is the climax of the sentence

Line 26b

'corpus' and 'relelavit' are emphatically positioned

Line 28

assonance = 'desolatus' and 'solacium', makes the scene more gloomy

Lines 29-30

polyptoton = 'vigiliam' and 'pervigilabam', emphasises the need to stay awake

Lines 31-32

his fear is piling up, triple assonance to emphasise his fear

Line 32

'introrepens mustela', the first six syllables are long possibly to highlight the weasel's creeping

Lines 36-44

use of the historic present

Lines 37-39a

the depth of T's sleep is heightened by the fact that even Apollo would not be able to tell him apart form the corpse

Lines 37-39a

'demergit', often refers to sinking ships, could refer to the depth of T's sleep

Lines 40-41a

alliteration of 'p', 'c' and repeated letter 'r' could emphasise his fear

Lines 40-41b

plosive 'p', makes the sentence more powerful

Lines 45-46a

strong 'p' alliteration, was believed alliteration made prayer more effective

Lines 45-46b

'pietam' and repetition of 'civi' = reminds citizens of their civic duty to help the murdered citizen

Line 46

'extremum' - very powerful appeal, she has gone to the furthest bounds of wickedness; emphasised further by 'istius', derogatory

Line 47

'nefariae scelestaeque', juxtaposition is very strong, what she has done is both religiously and legally wrong

Lines 47-48

'nec ullus alius', tautology - emphasises she alone did the crime

Line 48

'adulteri', emphatic positioning - the adulterous lover was the motive for her crime

Line 49

'veneno' = poison, emphatic positioning; poison was associated with women, they often used it to murder others, it did not require them to overpower men

Lines 52-55

'p' alliteration - stressing the wisdom of seeking divine advice

Lines 58-59

the passage is made more vivid by the repetition of 'iam' (now)
'iam...impleri' - asyndeton to emphasise the amount of things being done

Line 60-62

repetition of 'u' sound ('paludibus' 'pocula' 'reducitis'), emphasises the oozy nature of the marsh

Lines 62-63a

'desine' and 'iam' are anaphora - emphasise the corpse's anger at being brought back to life

Lines 62-63b

partial 'm' alliteration - he longs to sleep

Lines 68-69

'artibus premptus addictus noxio', chiasmus - draws our attention to the phrase and emphasises the evil nature of the bride

Line 69

'tepentem' = still warm, emphasises the haste of the adulterer

Line 70a

'perlucida' = very clear, emphatically placed at the end of the clause

Line 70b

the prefix 'per' intensifies the adjective 'lucida' - shows how determined the body is to get out the truth

Line 72

'digito' = finger, graphic insertion

Line 72-74

harsh 'c' alliteration - highlights the two-fold anger of the corpse at being murdered and being woken up

Line 73

'sagacissimus' = very shrewd, play on words as it looks like 'sagae' = witches; he is too clever for the witches

Lines 76-77

two metaphors: 'nebula' and 'sepeliverunt' - highlight the depth of sleep that encompasses him

Lines 78-79

CHIASMUS: habetes artus membra frigida - both adjectives are e.p, neatly contrasted

Lines 82-83

'exsurgit' and 'adit': switch to historic present - makes it more vivid and prepares the reader for the horror to come, leaves them in suspense

Lines 82-93

lots of historic present - makes it more vivid

Lines 86-87

'prosectarum' and 'prosecto': p alliteration and polyptoton - emphasises the cut-off nose

Lines 90-91

4 very short sentences - dramatic, realisation of his plight summed up in 7 words

Line 92

'd' alliteration - emphasises the crowd's pointing fingers

Lines 92-93

his escape is made vivid as we imagine him crawling and he is sweating

Line 94

repetition of 'sic' - emphasises his mutation and his ludicrous appearance

Line 96

'dec' assonance + alliteration of d - emphasises the shame of the young man

Lines 95-96

CHIASMUS: capillis aurium nasi linteolo - emphasises/highlights what he covered up

Antithesis

words of opposite meaning used in the same passage to show strong contrast and difference

Polysyndeton

'et' is repeated to emphasise the amount of things happening

Asyndeton

the removal of the word 'and' in Latin, emphasises the amount of things being down as it is just a list

Polyptoton

where a word is repeated in a different form to highlight/emphasise a point

Enclosing order

when the Latin words going together 'enclose' another phrase and so draws our attention to it

Tantology

saying the same thing twice with different words to provide emphasis