AUGUSTAN TRIUMPHS: DISHONORABLE LAURELS IN OVIDS AMORES AND METAMORPHOSES

Over the course of an extraordinary life, Augustus amassed an unprecedented collection of honors and accolades for his service to Rome. The wealth of extant literature during his lifetime offers a rich opportunity to investigate the circumstances in which Augustus flourished. This project analyzes Ovids Amores and Metamophoses to reveal the trajectory of intensifying criticisms aimed at specific accolades attributed to Augustus. My thesis begins with an examination of Book 1 of the Amores and its representations of the triumphal procession in order to trace the foundations of Ovid's nuanced censure of Augustus's honors or 'triumphs'. Then, in chapter 2, I illuminate the culmination of these same critiques expressed in the Metamorphoses, where Ovid's disapproval becomes more explicit. This project demonstrates how Ovid manipulates Augustan iconography in order to present the achievements of Augustus as dishonorable.