The Sorcerer's Apprentice him in his youth. It is, indeed, the oldest known variation of this tale type. While the similarities are so great as to make it obvious that Lucian was Goethe's inspiration, there are several minor differences: Similar themes (such as the power of magic or technology turning against the insufficiently wise person invoking it) are found in many traditions and works of art: Following Goethe's poem and Dukas' symphonic piece and the film "Fantasia", the term "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" has had numerous iterations as the title of various media pieces. These include several novels and nonfiction books, including novels by
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Ewers novel) The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Ewers novel) Der Zauberlehrling ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice") is a novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers, one of numerous works inspired in various ways by Goethe's poem of the same name. Ewers' first book, it was published in 1910. An English translation was published in America in 1927. It introduces the character of Frank Braun, who, like Ewers himself, is a writer, historian, philosopher, and world traveller with a decidedly Nietzschean morality. The story concerns Braun's attempts to manipulate a small cult of Evangelical Christians in a small Italian mountain village for his own financial gain, and the horrific