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.

Medusa; 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

Adonis; in some versions, raped by Aphrodite.
Bellerophon; raped by (and later accused of doing the same by) Anteia.
Caeneus 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

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

Rindr; raped by Odin in Saxo Grammaticus' version of the engendering of Baldr's avenger

Roman mythology

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

Lancelot; Elaine of Corbenic posed as Guinevere to perform a rape by deception upon him.

Medieval Folklore

Eve raped by Lilith, in the form of snake

Adam raped by Lilith in the form of Eve

Hindu mythology

Rambha raped by Ravana

Araja raped by Danda

References

^ 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.

[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.

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