Chapter 20. De opere illicito

Abstract

In this paper we have analyzed a miracle of Saint Andrew that Iacobus de Voragine included in his Legenda aurea (LA, II §§ 58–75). In this miracle, the motif of the trial for incest appears, together with the motif of Potiphar. We put it in relation to a story contained in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses (X, 2–12), since both stories share many common elements. Our comparative analysis reveals how the hagiographic story draws on certain novelistic elements and adapts them, giving them a new meaning to highlight the power of the saint.