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Reinventing Lucretia: Rape, Suicide and Redemption from Classical Antiquity to the Medieval Era | International Journal of the Classical Tradition Skip to main content

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Reinventing Lucretia: Rape, Suicide and Redemption from Classical Antiquity to the Medieval Era

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Abstract

This article examines the rape and suicide of the archetypal Roman matron Lucretia and the representation and appropriation of her story in literature from Augustan Rome, Late Antiquity and the medieval period. Rape and suicide have always been highly evocative, topical and controversial actions for scrutinising the relationship between gender and history, and it is no accident that Rome's first high-profile victim was later drawn upon by writers from 2,000 years of European history to explore issues such as appropriate (and inappropriate) female behaviour, sexuality, guilt, redemption, and the ethics of voluntary death. This article offers a diachronic perspective on the long afterlife of a single Roman myth and the potency of that myth as a privileged and effective point of reference for exploring femininity, rape and suicide in European history.

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Notes

  1. See, e.g. the “Introduction” in Renzetti and Bergen [74] for a summary of the subjects discussed in that volume.

  2. However, there are some similarities in the topics broached by volumes that study ancient accounts of rape. For example, the Preface in Deacy and Pierce [19] explains that some of the key questions to be considered are the motives of the rapists, and the attachment of blame to the victims by society.

  3. Mardorossian also comments on the lack of discussions of rape in contemporary feminist theory [56, p. 743].

  4. All translations are my own, unless otherwise stated. For the edition used see [55]

  5. Bauman argues that Lucretia would legally have been guilty of committing adultery because she ‘consented’ to the rape, as the element of coercion by violence was only allowed for from the early first century bc onwards [5, p. 552].

  6. See also [2, p. 209].

  7. As noted by [57, p. 37].

  8. See, e.g. [10, p. 168], for the idea that her suicide is neither straightforwardly masculine nor feminine.

  9. See e.g. [24, p. 181].

  10. As noted by Donaldson [21, p. 12] and Joplin [43, pp. 60–61].

  11. As noted by Matthes [57, p. 39] and Vandiver [90, p. 216]; see also Langlands [52, pp. 95–96].

  12. As Edwards points out [24, p. 183].

  13. This is in contrast to Ovid’s version where he includes details on Lucretia’s experience at this point: see below.

  14. Pudicitia can be seen as a feminine virtue parallel to the masculine virtue won on the battlefield [52, p. 76].

  15. There is a wealth of bibliography on the legislation, most of which can helpfully be found at [61, p. 141 n.2]; to this can be added [25, pp. 99–102, 105; 32; 52; 53, pp. 28–35; 82, pp. 206–207; 83, pp. 20–21].

  16. See [44, pp. 165–166].

  17. For the edition used see [67]

  18. As noted by [63, p. 37].

  19. See also [6, pp. 8–9] on the Sabines in the Ars Amatoria.

  20. Richlin comments that ‘the simile of doves and lambs is similarly familiar, and was in fact a commonplace’, evident in Horace also [76, p. 167].

  21. On this, see also [76, p. 172].

  22. See above. Conversely, Livy’s Lucretia is silent in this earlier part of the narrative and then more vocal after the rape.

  23. Knox [48, p. 214], commenting on the form ‘sanguinolenta’ used in Heroides 7; there are only three other known uses of it in classical verse aside from in Ovid, who uses it 15 times.

  24. Richlin comments that Ovid takes care in his narrative to emphasise such physical details [76, p. 172].

  25. As Newlands points out [63, p. 43].

  26. Arieti suggests that this detail is a ‘touch worthy of a Verdi opera’ [2, p. 213].

  27. Richlin notes that Lucretia ‘ends as she began, as object of the gaze’ [76, p. 172].

  28. As Beard has pointed out, ‘Roman men talked rape constantly’ and it was ‘one of its [Roman rape’s] jobs….to debate its own terms and definitions’ [6, p. 10].

  29. For example, in the work of the Roman historian Florus written early second century ad (at 1.1.7.11) [28].

  30. Tertullian uses ‘castitas’ for Lucretia’s chastity, a word found more in religious contexts than ‘pudicitia’, and one denoting a more general purity as well as sexual purity (see [52, p. 30]).

  31. See [8, p. 63; 24, pp. 209–210].

  32. For this line of argument, see [11, p. 96; 34], p. 10; 91, p. 194].

  33. See [4, pp. 100–101; 66, pp. 233–235].

  34. Edwards also comments on Tertullian’s argument ‘from the lesser to the greater’ [24, p. 209].

  35. See [46, pp. 182–184, 187; 9, p. 377; 49, p. 772].

  36. For the edition used see [42]

  37. See, e.g. [73, pp. 33–34].

  38. Menaut comments that Augustine saw it as his duty to rebut these criticisms [60, p. 323].

  39. See [35, pp. 636–637; 88, p. 54; 64, p. 74].

  40. Like Livy before him, Augustine found Lucretia’s story a ‘compelling diagnostic and tool’ [88, p. 69]. On the likelihood of Augustine using Livy’s version, see [35, p. 650; 88, p. 56].

  41. For the edition used see [3]

  42. See above.

  43. He saw a ‘human vanity’ in her that he did not look kindly upon [88, p. 62].

  44. On this distinction, see, e.g. [70, pp. 11–12, 16, 32, 120–121].

  45. See [9, pp. 402–408].

  46. Just as Ovid subverted Livy’s Lucretia, although not to the extent of Augustine: see above.

  47. O’Daly argues for the potential of readers from both groups [64, p. 36].

  48. As noted by Amundsen [1, p. 129].

  49. Amundsen [1] provides a solid overview of the topic.

  50. For Ambrose: De Virginibus, 3.7.23-7; for Jerome see above and his Commentary on Jonah, 1.6 (both written late fourth century before Augustine wrote De Civitate Dei).

  51. As Trout argues [88, pp. 67–69].

  52. On this, see [22, pp. 176–180; 89, p. 287].

  53. See [20, p. 117]. This paper also offers some insights into how Augustine viewed the concept of martyrdom.

  54. Kaufman [45, pp. 4–5].

  55. For more information on Augustine’s targeting of the Donatists, see Bels (1975, pp. 156–66); [1, pp. 131–133; 22, pp. 167–173; 34, pp. 49–50; 45, p. 11].

  56. See also [69, p. 262].

  57. As Donaldson notes [21, p. 31].

  58. It is highly likely that Chaucer and Gower were able to read and translate Latin (as Chaucer is known to have done) as they would have been well-educated in the language [see 37, 10–11]. It is thought that De Pizan could at least read Latin if not write in it [27, 92–93].

  59. Although many portrayed her as a figure to be lauded, Augustine’s ideas did have some lasting influence, e.g. Huguccio condemned her for ‘choosing’ to be raped and therefore appearing to be guilty of committing adultery (see [31, p. 814]); Thomas Aquinas also implies that she might be guilty in his Summa Theologiae (at 124.4.2).

  60. Both Chaucer and Gower refer to her as ‘Lucrece’, but I will stick with ‘Lucretia’ for the sake of ease. The bibliography on Chaucer’s portrayal of Lucretia is extensive [17, 30, 31, 38, 47, 51, 69, 84].

  61. For more on these ideas, see [69, Chap. 15].

  62. The text followed for the Legend is from the [12, 13]; the translation used is McMillan’s [59].

  63. See above.

  64. For example, [38, p. 5, n. 5; 36, p. 110].

  65. See also [36, pp. 107–111].

  66. As Frank suggests [30, p. 105].

  67. Percival suggests that the reader is being invited to empathise with Tarquinius to some extent in the narrative [69, p. 273].

  68. See the glossary on related terms in the Riverside Chaucer (1988, 1302–1303).

  69. Delany does not see the swoon’s inclusion as straightforwardly absolving Lucretia, but identifies a sexual pun in Chaucer’s lines here [18, pp. 145–146].

  70. Kiser describes her as ‘saintly only by the standards of her own pagan culture’ (1983, 106); Galloway suggests that Chaucer sees her decision as ‘valid, that is, in its own historical context of the 'shame culture' of ancient Rome’ [47, p. 827].

  71. Cowen [17], Laird [51] and Percival [69] all appreciate the ambiguity of this account.

  72. See [30, p. 15; 68, p. 475].

  73. For the edition used see [33]

  74. Gower spends much time discussing the evil deeds of Tarquinius and his father (7.4573 onwards).

  75. All the following quotes are from 2.44.1 of Pizan’s City of Ladies [see 71].

  76. See above.

  77. McKinley attests to the increasing number of Ovidian texts in England between 1200 and 1500 in a ‘wide array of types of writing’, and to the deep influence Ovid had on Chaucer and Gower [58, pp. 197–199], and Clark surveys his prominence from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages [16, pp. 1–25]. Livy, on the other hand, was not brought ‘out of the oblivion into which he had fallen’ until the early fourteenth century, and it seems that the ‘scandalous’ nature of Ovid’s work made him a more popular choice for those reading the classical authors [see the entry for ‘Classics’ in André Vauchez (ed.) Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (2000)].

  78. See [51, pp. 62–63; 75, pp. xxviii–xix].

  79. Wolfthal also provides evidence for other contemporary views that suicide was the appropriate response to rape [94, p. 61].

  80. As Wolfthal points out [94, p. 67].

  81. See Schibanoff [79] for the likelihood of female literacy and readership at this time.

  82. For discussions of the role of female suicide bombers in recent decades, see [50, 80, 92].

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Glendinning, E. Reinventing Lucretia: Rape, Suicide and Redemption from Classical Antiquity to the Medieval Era. Int class trad 20, 61–82 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12138-013-0322-y

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