List of rape victims from ancient history and mythology

The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus by Rubens

The lock, by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

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:.

• Leda from Greek mythology, raped by Zeus in the form of a swan^[1]
• Cassandra from Greek mythology; raped by Ajax the Lesser
• Chrysippus from Greek mythology; raped by his tutor Laius
• Antiope from Greek mythology; raped by Zeus
• Persephone from Greek mythology; raped by Hades. This is traditionally referred to as the Rape of Persephone. Roman mythology refers to it as the Rape of Prosperina.
• Dinah from the Hebrew Bible; raped by a Canaanite prince and avenged by her brothers
• Lucretia from Roman legend/history; raped by a prince, Sextus Tarquinius.^[2]
• Medusa from Greek mythology; raped by Poseidon
• Philomela from Greek and Roman mythology; raped by her brother in law
• 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.
• 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. ^[3]
• 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. Instead, many of the men who tried to molest her ended up being inflicted with blindness or even died.
• Hera was raped by her brother Zeus, she then married him to cover her shame

References

1. ↑ In some versions of the story, Zeus seduces Leda. 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. ↑ 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. 
3. ↑ Klassiker: Gemälde, H. Johannsen, Gerstenberg, 2001, ISBN 380-672-516-0.