En ny gudinna för en ny tid: Ovidius och Hersilias metamorfos

This article argues that the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses invented the apotheosis of Hersilia into the goddess Hora as a way to flatter the empress Livia. There are compelling parallels between the words used to describe Hersilia and Livia in Ovid’s poetry. Furthermore, Hersilia was, according to the legend, a Sabine woman who married Romulus, the founder of Rome. Livia was born into the Claudian family, famously Sabine through Attius Clausus. As such, it is appropriate of Ovid to compare Livia to Hersilia, as she was in some ways the Sabine wife of the new founder of Rome, Augustus.