An exploration of my long-standing interest in Apuleius' Metamorphoses begins with an investigation into the history of interpretation, as related to a changing consciousness of fictionality. This evolving historical consciousness is far from linear (moving from simple unawareness to awareness), but instead uneven, complicated by disconcerting regressions (or what seem to be relapses, based on a teleological view of intellectual history). Sixteenth century translations of Apuleius' Metamorphoses are an excellent case study in a puzzling phenomenon: a shift from literary and allegorical meaning to factual and referential interpretation, along with the rise of demonological knowledge. I, as well as other scholars, have noticed an impoverishment of allegorical interpretations of Apuleius' Metamorphoses since Beroaldo's translation. This deallegorization can be linked to a new historical and factual reading, according to which Apuleius' Lucius is an actual magician; this reading is based on the belief that real metamorphosis is possible, perhaps due in part to the influence of Jean Bodin. In any case, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Apuleius' tale is broadly considered to be merely autobiographical-as is the case for Jean de Montlyard (his translation of Apuleius' text was published in 1612). More broadly, from the beginning of the seventeenth century, the use of the first person is hardly compatible with fiction.