List of rape victims from ancient history and mythology
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Rape is a common topic in history and mythology. A list of notable survivors from history and mythology includes:
Ancient history
[edit]- Boudica's two daughters, raped by Roman soldiers
- Rogneda of Polotsk or Gorislava; according to the Suzdalian Chronicle sub anno 1128, raped by Vladimir, half-brother of her betrothed Yaropolk I of Kiev, in the presence of her parents (10th century)[1]
- A slave girl in Ibn Fadlan's account of a Norse funeral (c. 922), gang-raped and killed as part of a chief's funeral ritual
- Li Zu'e, an empress who was raped by her brother-in-law and became pregnant
- Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-c. 1656), Italian Baroque artist
- Xenia Borisovna, Russian princess, forcibly taken as a concubine by False Dmitry I
- Periander, tyrant of Corinth, was said to have experienced rape by deception from his mother.
Mythology
[edit]Greek mythology
[edit]Female
[edit]- Alcippe a daughter of Ares; raped by Halirrhothius, the son of Poseidon.
- Alcmene; raped by Zeus in form of her husband Amphitryon, resulting in the birth of Heracles.
- Apemosyne; raped by Hermes, after slipping on skinned hides that he placed on her path.
- Atalanta; attempted rape by the centaurs Rhoecus and Hylaios, both of whom she slew with her bow.
- Auge; raped by Heracles.
- Aura; raped by Dionysus while she was drunk.
- Callisto; raped by Zeus in the form of Artemis or Apollo, resulting in the birth of Arcas.
- Cassandra; raped by Ajax the Lesser during the Sack of Troy.
- Chione; raped by Hermes in her sleep.
- Cassiopeia; raped by Zeus in the form of her husband Phoenix.
- Chalciope, abducted and raped by Heracles who planned an attack on Cos at night, killing her father Eurypylus, because he wanted her.
- Cyrene; raped by Apollo in the form of a wolf.
- Danae; raped by Zeus in the form of golden rain, resulting in the birth of Perseus.
- Demeter; according to an Arcadian myth, Demeter was being pursued by her brother Poseidon, and she changed into a horse to escape him. Poseidon, however, transformed himself into a horse and, after cornering Demeter, raped his older sister, resulting in her giving birth to Despoina, a mysterious goddess, and Arion, a divine horse.
- Dryope; raped by Apollo in the form of a snake.
- Europa; abducted by Zeus in the form of a white bull, then raped, resulting in the birth of Minos.
- Halie; a Rhodian woman raped by her own sons.
- Apemosyne, raped by Hermes and later on killed by her angry brother who though that she was lying about being molested by the god and he kicked her to death.
- Harpalyce; raped by her own father Clymenus.
- Hera; raped by her brother (and later husband) Zeus.
- Io; pursued and eventually raped by Zeus, transformed into a heifer.
- Leda, raped by Zeus in the form of a swan.[2] This resulted in the birth of Helen of Troy and Polydeuces (Pollux).
- Liriope; raped by the river god Cephissus, resulting in the birth of Narcissus.
- Medusa; in the later versions, raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple.
- Metis; pursued and eventually raped by her cousin (and later husband) Zeus, resulting in the eventual birth of Athena.
- Nemesis; raped by Zeus, her first cousin once removed, who relentlessly pursued her, changing many forms. In some versions, Nemesis is the mother of Helen of Troy rather than Leda.
- Nicaea; raped by Dionysus while she was unconscious.
- Persephone; raped by her uncle Hades and in Orphic tradition by her father Zeus disguised as a snake or as Hades himself. This resulted in the birth of Zagreus and Melinoë.
- Philomela; raped by her brother-in-law Tereus.
- Procris; raped by Minos.
- Rhea; raped by her son Zeus.
- Tyro; raped by Poseidon in the form of her beloved, the river-god Enipeus.
Male
[edit]- Adonis; in some versions, raped by Aphrodite.
- Bellerophon; raped by (and later accused of doing the same by) Anteia.
- Caeneus in some versions, raped while still biologically female by Poseidon.
- Cephalus; raped by Eos
- Chrysippus of Elis; raped by King Laius of Thebes, father of Oedipus by Jocasta.
- Cinyras raped by his daughter, Myrrha, via deception and alcohol.
- Daphnis, son of Hermes raped by Echenais, with the aid of wine.
- Endymion raped by Selene as he slept.
- Ganymede raped by Zeus
- Hermaphroditos; raped by (and later merged with) the nymph Salmacis.
- Hylas raped by naiads.
- Lyrcus, son of Phoroneus, raped by Hemithea, by means of alcohol.
- Odysseus; in some versions, raped by Calypso on the island of Ogygia in his seven-year stay.
- Silenus; raped by the cyclops Polyphemus.
Hebrew Bible
[edit]- Dinah; raped by a Canaanite prince and avenged by her brothers.
- Lot; raped by his daughters while under effect of alcohol, Genesis 19:30-38.
- Tamar; raped by her half-brother Amnon and avenged by her brother Absalom.
Norse mythology
[edit]- Rindr; raped by Odin in Saxo Grammaticus' version of the engendering of Baldr's avenger
Roman mythology
[edit]- Lucretia; raped by a prince, Sextus Tarquinius.[3]
- The Sabine women; raped by the founders of Rome
- Rhea Silvia, raped by Mars.
- Medusa; raped by Neptune in Minerva's temple, as the rape happens in Ovid's version.
- Lara; raped by Mercury as he escorted her to the Underworld.
- Caeneus; formerly known as Caenis raped by Neptune in Ovid's version.
- Endymion; raped by Selene while he was sleeping.
Knights of the Round Table
[edit]- Lancelot; Elaine of Corbenic posed as Guinevere to perform a rape by deception upon him.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Butler, Francis (2012). "The "Legend of Gorislava" (not "Rogned'" or "Rogneda"): An Edition, Commentary, and Translation". Dubitando: Studies in History and Culture in Honor of Donald Ostrowski (PDF). Bloomington: Slavica Publishers. pp. 335–352. ISBN 9780893574048. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ 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 (eds.). 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.
- ^ 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.