The Future is Female: Circe, Augustus, and the Prehistory of Rome

Abstract

This paper focuses on one of ancient mythology's most notorious voices, the nymph Circe, daughter of the Sun and witch of Aeaea. Tracing the evolution of Circe's mythology through the works of Vergil, Ovid, and Valerius Flaccus, it shows how these early imperial authors use her presence in Rome's family tree to push back on Augustus' version of Rome's genealogy and his own right to rule. By embedding Circe in the "Italian" side of Rome's antecedents, they demonstrate the fragility of the principate's claim to legitimacy through control of Rome's inheritance.