List of rape victims from ancient history and mythology

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

Ancient history

  • 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

Mythology

Greek mythology

Female

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Harpalyce; raped by her own father.
  • 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.
  • 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

Hebrew Bible

Norse mythology

Roman mythology

Knights of the Round Table

See also

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  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.