List of rape victims from ancient history and mythology

The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus by Rubens
The Story of Lucretia (1496-1504) by Sandro Botticelli; Lucretia's rape is on the left panel.

Rape is a common topic in history and mythology. A list of notable victims from history and mythology includes:.

  • Agnes of Rome, was a young girl of around 12 or 13 years of age, who consecrated her virginity to Christ, and was dragged to a brothel to be raped, in a bid to make her recant her Christian faith.
  • Antiope from Greek mythology; raped by Zeus.
  • Callisto; raped by Zeus.
  • Cassandra from Greek mythology; raped by Ajax the Lesser.
  • Chrysippus from Greek mythology; raped by his tutor Laius.
  • Demeter; according to an Arcadian myth, Demeter was being pursued by Poseidon and she changed into a horse to escape him. Poseidon, however, transformed himself into a horse and, after cornering Demeter, rapes her, results in her giving birth to Despoina, a maiden goddess, and Arion, a divine horse.
  • Dinah from the Hebrew Bible; raped by a Canaanite prince and avenged by her brothers.
  • Europa from Greek mythology; raped by Zeus after he abducted her in the form of a bull.
  • Ganymede, son of Tros of Dardania; taken up to Mount Olympus by Zeus in the form of an eagle.
  • Leda from Greek mythology, raped by Zeus in the form of a swan.[1]
  • The daughters of Leucippus, Phoebe and Hilaeira, were abducted, raped and later married by Castor and Pollux. In return, Idas and Lynceus, nephews of Leucippus and rival suitors, killed Castor. [2]
  • Lucretia from Roman legend/history; raped by a prince, Sextus Tarquinius.[3]
  • Medusa from Greek mythology; raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple.
  • Persephone; raped by her father, Zeus.
  • Philomela from Greek and Roman mythology; raped by her brother-in-law Tereus
  • Rindr from Norse mythology, raped by Odin in Saxo Grammaticus' version of the engendering of Baldr's avenger
  • Rogneda of Polotsk from Belarus/Scandinavian history; raped by Vladimir, half-brother of her betrothed Yaropolk I of Kiev, in the presence of her parents (10th century)
  • The Sabine women; raped by the founders of Rome according to its legendary history
  • Tamar from the Hebrew Bible; raped by her half-brother Amnon.

References

  1. ↑ In some versions of the story, Zeus seduces Leda and she submits willingly. In others, such as that retold in William Butler Yeats' "Leda and the Swan", he rapes her: Romigh, Maggie (2007). "Luci Tapahonso's 'Leda and the cowboy': a gynocratic, Navajo response to Yeats's 'Leda and the swan'". In Cotten, Angela L.; Acampora, Christa Davis. Cultural sites of critical insight: philosophy, aesthetics, and African American and Native American women's writings. Albany, New York: State University of New York. p. 159. ISBN 9781429465700.
  2. ↑ Klassiker: Gemälde, H. Johannsen, Gerstenberg, 2001, ISBN 380-672-516-0.
  3. ↑ Cornell, Timothy J (1995). "9. The Beginnings of the Roman Republic: 2. The Problem of Chronology". The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). The Routledge History of the Ancient World. Routledge. pp. 218–225. ISBN 978-0-415-01596-7.
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