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Photis
Charite is the hostage of the thieves who sack Milo and kidnap Lucius (in donkey form). She has a fiancé (later revealed to be Tlepolemus). The thieves intend to keep Charite in order to extort money from her family. The old hag, who works with the thieves, tries to comfort Charite by telling her the story of Cupid and Psyche. Ultimately, Charite is rescued when her fiancé, Tlepolemus, infiltrates the thieves’ cave in disguise and kills them. Despite escaping, however, Tlepolemus eventually ends up dead, due to scheming by Thrasyllus. This causes Charite to kill herself on Tlepolemus’s sword out of despair. Charite’s story symbolizes the whims of Fate, as she finds herself in an unfortunate position, then gets miraculously rescued, only to meet even greater misfortune.
Charite (The Hostage) Quotes in The Golden Ass
The The Golden Ass quotes below are all either spoken by Charite (The Hostage) or refer to Charite (The Hostage). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 4
Quotes
In a certain city there lived a king and queen who had daughters three in number and illustrious in beauty. Though the two born first were quite gratifying enough to look at, praise and publicity on a mortal scale were held to be adequate for them. But the youngest girl’s gorgeousness was so extraordinary, so remarkable that the poverty of human speech prevented any proper description or even encomium.
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Book 7
Quotes
But she! As soon as she saw the young man and heard mention of a brothel and a pimp, she started to laugh and wiggle ecstatically, so I felt justified in condemning the entire sex… At that moment, the character of all women, as a class, was subject to a donkey’s censure.
Book 8
Quotes
Leave off your troublesome weeping and your wailing so alien to my brave deeds. I have taken revenge on the gore-caked annihilator of my husband.
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Charite (The Hostage) Quotes in The Golden Ass
The The Golden Ass quotes below are all either spoken by Charite (The Hostage) or refer to Charite (The Hostage). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 4
Quotes
In a certain city there lived a king and queen who had daughters three in number and illustrious in beauty. Though the two born first were quite gratifying enough to look at, praise and publicity on a mortal scale were held to be adequate for them. But the youngest girl’s gorgeousness was so extraordinary, so remarkable that the poverty of human speech prevented any proper description or even encomium.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 7
Quotes
But she! As soon as she saw the young man and heard mention of a brothel and a pimp, she started to laugh and wiggle ecstatically, so I felt justified in condemning the entire sex… At that moment, the character of all women, as a class, was subject to a donkey’s censure.
Book 8
Quotes
Leave off your troublesome weeping and your wailing so alien to my brave deeds. I have taken revenge on the gore-caked annihilator of my husband.
