Donne-madri e serpenti simboli di vita e di potere

The work focuses on the symbolic meaning of the snake from a historical-political perspective in the Roman world, dwelling in particular on the analysis of the phenomenon of divine ‘drakōn-sires’, associated in the cases reviewed with Jupiter or Apollo. The relationship between the hero and the snake was a common topos in the ancient world, hence the idea that the great characters were generated by snakes, as in the case of Scipio, Augustus and Galerius for the Roman world, Alexander, Aratus and Aristhenes for the Greek one. In all these tales, the basic plot is the same: the hero’s mother is seen sleeping with a snake, that is actually a god in disguise, and from this union the hero is conceived. The use of sexuality emerges as an instrument of political propaganda, which explains the significant details that make each story different from the others as aimed at a precise purpose.