List of rape victims from ancient history and mythology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rape is a common topic in history and mythology. A list of notable survivors from history and mythology includes:
History[edit]
Mythology[edit]
Christian[edit]
- Agnes of Rome; 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.
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; raped by Hippomenes when they married.
- 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.[1] This resulted in the birth of Helen of Troy.
- Liriope; raped by the river god Cephissus.
- Medusa; raped by Poseidon, resulting in the eventual birth of Pegasus.
- Metis; pursued and eventually raped by her cousin (and later husband) Zeus, resulting in the eventual birth of Athena.
- Nemesis; raped by Zeus, 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.
- 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]
Hebrew Bible[edit]
- Noah; mocked by Ham, in some interpretations he is either raped by him or by Canaan, his son and grandson respectively.
- Dinah; raped by a Canaanite prince and avenged by her brothers.
- Lot; seduced by his daughters by means of alcohol
- Tamar; raped by her half-brother Amnon and avenged by her brother Absalom.
Norse mythology[edit]
Roman mythology[edit]
Knights of the Round Table[edit]
Medieval Folklore[edit]
Eve raped by Lilith, in the form of snake
Adam raped by Lilith in the form of Eve
Hindu Mythology[edit]
Ahalya seduced by Indra, the king of gods
Rambha raped by Ravana
Araja raped by Danda
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ 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.
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