The fact @PeterSinger thinks the takeaway point of The Golden Ass by Apuleius is about "animal rights" is more proof that he's a eugenicist
Lets take a journey back to 2nd c CE Roman Greece in this brief thread about one of the earliest novels ever written (now w/ alt-text)
/1
Lets take a journey back to 2nd c CE Roman Greece in this brief thread about one of the earliest novels ever written (now w/ alt-text)
/1
https://twitter.com/AntigoneJournal/status/1399005982706081796
The Golden Ass is a fun read filled with sex, drugs, magic, violence, and lots of (often sexist) comedy
Lucius is a young man interested in women and magic
He falls for a woman enslaved to a witch. They eat magic herbs, make love, and he is accidentally turned into a donkey
/2
Lucius is a young man interested in women and magic
He falls for a woman enslaved to a witch. They eat magic herbs, make love, and he is accidentally turned into a donkey
/2
They thought the spell would turn him into a bird. Too bad, Lucius, you're an ass! Like the braying kind...
The only cure is to eat some fresh roses
So, Photis, his lover puts him in the stable for the night. The plan is for her to go find some roses the next morning
/3
The only cure is to eat some fresh roses
So, Photis, his lover puts him in the stable for the night. The plan is for her to go find some roses the next morning
/3
But... there's a plot twist
yes, even really early novels had crazy plot twists
That night, the house is robbed. The robbers grab all kinds of loot and load it up on Lucius the donkey to make their get-away
/4
yes, even really early novels had crazy plot twists
That night, the house is robbed. The robbers grab all kinds of loot and load it up on Lucius the donkey to make their get-away
/4
The adventure now begins
Lucius gets to experience life as a donkey
He's abused, insulted, and othered. Sometimes in comic fashion other times in appalling fashion
/5
Lucius gets to experience life as a donkey
He's abused, insulted, and othered. Sometimes in comic fashion other times in appalling fashion
/5
At first glance, maybe its a message about animal rights
Lucius is beaten like an ass. Repeatedly
He moves from job to job, bearing one load after another on his equine back, pulling a millstone round and round to grind grain in a Roman mill (like this one from Pompeii)
/6
Lucius is beaten like an ass. Repeatedly
He moves from job to job, bearing one load after another on his equine back, pulling a millstone round and round to grind grain in a Roman mill (like this one from Pompeii)
/6
But the fact is that Lucius' humanity is front & center
Like his centaur cousins, he also partakes in (usually sexual) hijinks that are oh-so human
After all, there's a human in that equine form. People started to recognize it and his fame grew
/7
PS: spoiler/bestiality ahead
Like his centaur cousins, he also partakes in (usually sexual) hijinks that are oh-so human
After all, there's a human in that equine form. People started to recognize it and his fame grew
/7
PS: spoiler/bestiality ahead
By the final climax of the novel he is the donkey performing sex shows. A noblewoman pays an extravagant sum to sleep with him
His humanity emerges and he runs away to fall asleep on the beach
/8
His humanity emerges and he runs away to fall asleep on the beach
/8
He sleeps and wakes
His visions show him the Egyptian goddess, Isis. Her procession arrives and the priest gives him his crown of roses to eat
Lucius is now a man again, initiated into an important religion of the time
The story is one of religious salvation
/9
His visions show him the Egyptian goddess, Isis. Her procession arrives and the priest gives him his crown of roses to eat
Lucius is now a man again, initiated into an important religion of the time
The story is one of religious salvation
/9
And, this is the problem with applying our anachronistic idea of "animal rights" to this story
The story is overtly one of humanity
As a donkey, he's ignored, and so he sees humans acting like they do when nobody's watching
/10
The story is overtly one of humanity
As a donkey, he's ignored, and so he sees humans acting like they do when nobody's watching
/10
Lucius observes lovers cheating on one another (it's a running gag)
He witnesses the unrepentant greed of so many thieves and con artists
He sees so much violent abuse, some leveled on him, some leveled on his enslaved human companions
/11
He witnesses the unrepentant greed of so many thieves and con artists
He sees so much violent abuse, some leveled on him, some leveled on his enslaved human companions
/11
But the whole point is he's human!
In the end, he learns from his adventure. He has a religious experience and is saved
It's not a story about animal rights, it's a metaphor about humans (I know, it's shocking, early novels had metaphors, just like our modern ones)
/12
In the end, he learns from his adventure. He has a religious experience and is saved
It's not a story about animal rights, it's a metaphor about humans (I know, it's shocking, early novels had metaphors, just like our modern ones)
/12
The fact that
@PeterSinger
published in
@AntigoneJournal
that The Golden Ass is about animal rights is a problem
Peter Singer has argued that it should be ethical and legal to kill disabled children with serious illnesses, after birth
/13
aeon.co/ideas/what-i-l…
@PeterSinger
published in
@AntigoneJournal
that The Golden Ass is about animal rights is a problem
Peter Singer has argued that it should be ethical and legal to kill disabled children with serious illnesses, after birth
/13
aeon.co/ideas/what-i-l…
The philosophical argument to kill children is one that is based in dehumanization
According to this argument, a serious disability can make someone less than human so that normal human ethics don't apply
/14
According to this argument, a serious disability can make someone less than human so that normal human ethics don't apply
/14
Confusing Apuleius' Golden Ass as a story about animals instead of humans betrays a similar, biased logic
Singer admits in his piece, he'd never even heard of this novel a few years ago. And, then, bam he reads it as a story about animal rights and not human salvation...
/15
Singer admits in his piece, he'd never even heard of this novel a few years ago. And, then, bam he reads it as a story about animal rights and not human salvation...
/15
As a scholar who studies ancient animals, I can tell you that not too many donkeys had torrid affairs with noblewomen
Enslaved humans were abused and dragged millstones round and round in ancient Rome. Nothing in this novel should be read as about animals, but humans
/16
Enslaved humans were abused and dragged millstones round and round in ancient Rome. Nothing in this novel should be read as about animals, but humans
/16
How we read and explain a story matters
Disabled people are and were people
Who @AntigoneJournal chooses to publish matters
They claim to make Classics accessible for all. But this article is inaccurate and excludes disabled people
/end
Disabled people are and were people
Who @AntigoneJournal chooses to publish matters
They claim to make Classics accessible for all. But this article is inaccurate and excludes disabled people
/end
Plus, it just seems ironic to be so vociferous for animal rights and so casual about eliminating human rights from real people. After all, killing someone is certainly eliminating their human rights
This whole situation upsets and confuses me
This whole situation upsets and confuses me
BREAKING NEWS
George Orwell's Animal Farm is actually about animal rights!
C'mon @AntigoneJournal, this article is basically making the same argument!
George Orwell's Animal Farm is actually about animal rights!
C'mon @AntigoneJournal, this article is basically making the same argument!
Thanks to the reminder of @debscavator, I've now re-written the thread to include alt-text
which is only fitting since one of the themes of the thread is disability, and I want my threads to be accessible to all
which is only fitting since one of the themes of the thread is disability, and I want my threads to be accessible to all
Another good point by @CBPolt
Lucius is shunned by fellow animals. His mistreatment is a metaphor for the mistreatment of people
Exactly what Singer's philosophy misses. He argues to treat animals well but to kill people
Lucius is shunned by fellow animals. His mistreatment is a metaphor for the mistreatment of people
Exactly what Singer's philosophy misses. He argues to treat animals well but to kill people
https://twitter.com/CBPolt/status/1399327245026594823?s=19
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