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:

Table of Contents

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

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.

[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 (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.

[2] 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.