The aim of this article is to analyze La Mandragola di Niccolò Machiavelli and in particular the character of Lucretia, the female protagonist of the play. We will try to demonstrate that Machiavelli’s Mandragola exceeds the literary record and contains its own theoretical-political potential. For this purpose, we will first restore the textual mentions of Lucretia and analyze what Machiavelli says about her. Secondly, we will briefly focus on the Roman legend of Lucretia, as it appears in Tito Livio’s account (...) in order to illuminate the uniqueness of the Machiavellian Lucretia. Finally, we will outline the conclusions. (shrink)