Fīlia Rēgis et Monstrum Horribile
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Reading level
The author’s website states that this novella is “designed to be [read] easily by beginning or intermediate Latin students.” The catalog in the front matter of the book lists the level of Fīlia Rēgis as “Beginner”; other works by this author note that the beginning level is appropriate for first-year students. Comprehensible Antiquity puts this novella at Level D.
Diverse & Multicultural Identities
For information about how representation of multicultural and diverse identities is analyzed in LNDb, see here.Parallel cultures
No depictions identified.Gender
Features one cis female main character (Psyche). Features no cis male main characters or transgender main characters.Sexual identity
Features a depiction of heterosexual identity: Cupid, a male god, and Psyche, a mortal woman, fall in love.SES/class
No depictions identified. (Though Psyche is a princess, and Cupid lives in a luxurious house, their SES/class is not stated explicitly.)Religion
Features a depiction of Roman religion: Psyche cleans up a temple of Ceres, and is rewarded for her piety.Disability
No depictions identified.Language Statistics
Vocabulary
Word List
A complete word list for Fīlia Rēgis et Monstrum Horribile can be found here.
Glosses
This novella contains glosses in the form of both footnotes with English translations and pictures. It also features many illustrations. While they are not glosses of particular words, they are meant to depict the events of the story in a way that supports comprehension on a level broader than individual words.
Of the 298 unique words (not counting proper nouns) used in the text, 87 of them (29.2%) are glossed at their first appearance in the text. Of the 3230 total words in the text, 157 of them (4.9%) are glossed.
Of the 298 unique words (not counting proper nouns) used in the text, 87 of them (29.2%) are glossed at their first appearance in the text. Of the 3230 total words in the text, 157 of them (4.9%) are glossed.
Glossary
This novella contains a Latin-English glossary, with every form of each word listed separately. The glossary is incomplete; some words used in the text are not found in the glossary.
Syntax
A higher score in these criteria does not necessarily mean that the novella is at a higher reading level. In fact, studies show that if vocabulary is sufficiently sheltered, a more complex syntax does not significantly impact comprehension.
The ratio of complex sentences indicates what proportion of the total sentences are complex sentences, on average. A complex sentence is defined as a sentence with one or more subordinate clauses or verb phrases.
Summary
Genre & Sources
This novella is in the genre of mythological (Classical).
It is an adaptation of the story of Cupid and Psyche, found in Books 4 through 6 of Apuleius’s Metamorphoses.
It is an adaptation of the story of Cupid and Psyche, found in Books 4 through 6 of Apuleius’s Metamorphoses.
CONTAINS SPOILERS
Psyche is a princess who is so beautiful that Venus herself becomes jealous. Venus sends her son Cupid to make it so that no one will love her and to find her a horrible monster as a husband. Cupid goes into Psyche’s bedroom and, while she is sleeping, gives her water that ensures no one will love her. But Cupid pricks his own finger with one of his arrows, and falls in love with Psyche. Psyche’s parents, unable to find a husband for her, consult an oracle which tells them they must leave Psyche on the top of a mountain. At the top of this mountain, Psyche sees a beautiful house. An invisible slave invites her inside, saying that she is now mistress of the house, and Psyche spends the day in great comfort. That night, as she is sleeping, her husband comes into her bedroom. Psyche tries to look at him, but he says that mortals are not allowed to look at him, and that he will treat her well. This goes on for several days, and Psyche is happy but wishes to see her sisters. Her husband allows Psyche’s sisters to come to the top of the mountain, but they do not see the beautiful house nor anything else at all. The sisters, suspicious, convince Psyche to bring a lamp into her husband’s bedroom so she can see what he looks like. She does this, and finds that her husband is Cupid himself. She spills hot oil from the lamp onto Cupid, who wakes up and flees the house. Psyche goes from town to town in search of Cupid and finds a temple of Ceres in disrepair. She cleans up the temple, and as a reward Ceres tells her to go ask Venus for forgiveness. When she does this, Venus gives Psyche three tasks: sorting a heap of grain, collecting the wool of golden sheep, and going to the underworld to retrieve the beauty of Proserpina. With the help of some ants, a river god, and one of the invisible slaves, she succeeds in these tasks. But on her way back from the underworld she looks inside the box containing Proserpina’s beauty, and falls into a deep sleep. Cupid finds her and wakes her up, and they profess their love. They go to Jupiter, who gives Psyche ambrosia to drink, making her immortal. Cupid and Psyche live happily ever after.
First 100 Words
Underlined words are glossed in the text.Rēx et rēgīna laetī habitant in domō magnā et pulchrā.
Rēx et rēgīna trēs fīliās habent. Fīlia prīma nātū est puella pulchra. Sed fīlia secunda nātū pulchrior est quam soror sua. Puellae sunt pulchrae, sed malae.
Fīlia tertia nātū vocātur Psȳchē. Psȳchē est pulcherrima, et est pulchrior quam sorōrēs suae. Quia Psȳchē pulchrior est, puella sorōribus nōn placet.
Puella pulcherrima multīs hominibus placet. In urbe multī cīvēs Psȳchēn amant et laudant. In omnibus terrīs, multī cīvēs puellam pulcherrimam vidēre volunt. Hominēs longē iter faciunt ad puellam videndam. Hominēs eam laudant: "Psȳchē est pulchrior quam omnēs puellae! Puella est similis deae Venerī ipsī!" …
Supplementary Materials
If you have resources for Fīlia Rēgis et Monstrum Horribile and would like to share them on LNDb, please contact me.Presentation
| Illustrations? | yes |
| Illustrator | Andrew Olimpi |
| Macrons? | yes |
| Font | Garamond, 18 pt |
| Pages of story | 72 |
| Total pages | 99 |
| Chapters | 14 |
Key Information
| Publication date | June 2, 2017 |
| Publisher | Comprehensible Classics (Createspace) |
| ISBN | 1546936262 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1546936268 |
