Il campione. Achille nella letteratura latina di età imperiale

The aim of the present doctoral thesis is to investigate the presence of the character Achilles in the Latin Literature of the Imperial Age. Moving from Catullus’ Carmen LXIV up to Dracontius’ Carmina profana, the figure of Achilles is analysed as specimen of Homer’s fortune inside and out of the epic genre; the recurrent ambition of Roman writers to compete with Homer’s authority by giving birth to a ‘Latin Iliad’ leads to the frequent characterisation of Achilles as promise of a great poetic enterprise up to come. The conventional association of the Trojan War with its most celebrated symbol involves the demonization and de-heroicization of Achilles. On the other hand, there are some counterfactual reflections on his destructive potential as enemy of the Roman people (for killing their ancestor Aeneas).