The myth of the Amazons in the literature of the age of Augustus

Abstract

This paper aims to compile and interpret the mentions of the myth of the Amazons in literary sources contemporary to the principality of Octavian. This period was fundamental for the creation of a symbolic image of the new power, with religion as the great legitimizing axis; thus, from Octavian’s environment a series of divinities and myths were selected and deliberately incorporated both in the public iconography associated with the princeps and in some literary works of the time, with the ultimate aim of endorsing the new political regime. We will try to demonstrate that the myth of the Amazons was one of them through the analysis of a selection of texts that mention it. Through the literary analysis and historical contextualization of the selected texts, we aim to provide interpretative clues about the function of the myth of the Amazons in the construction and evolution of the triumphal image of Augustan Rome.
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