Subversive elements present in met. 11 invalidate the interpretation of the book as a straightforward account of a religious experience.
Isis is linked with the staged Judgement of Paris, with actors playing the bribing goddesses, at the end of Book 10 (11, 3-5 : cf. 10, 30-31).
The comic picture of a perspiring ass (11, 7) ; Lucius ' inability to follow instructions (11, 12-13) ; and the high price of Lucius ' initations into the Isis cult (11, 21-24) are some of these elements.
