In general, Plutarch accepts a certain amount of what we would call "popular superstition," but he is anxious to select only what is compatible with his own philosophical doctrine, and what he selects he purifies and gives, as far as possible a rational explanation. He does not discuss ritual magic in any detail and he seems to reject astrology.
A later Platonist, Apuleius of Madaura (born c. 125 CE), gives us a substantial amount of information on contemporary beliefs in occult science. We have the speech he delivered in his own defense against the charge of magic, circa 160 CE, and from this Apologia (another title is De Magia) we learn how easy it was, at that time, for a philosopher to be accused of magiocal practices. Yet Apuleius may not have been completely above suspicion. In his novel, Metamorphoses (also known as The Golden Ass), a piece of fiction which seems to have autobiographical elements, the ehro, Lucius, dabbles in magic as a young man, gets into trouble, is rescued by the goddess Isis, and then finds true knowledge and happiness in her mysteries.[61]
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