Lucretia
Lucretia is a legendary figure in the history of the
Roman Republic.
According to
Livy's version of the establishment of the Republic, the last
king of Rome,
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (
superbus, "the proud") had a violent son,
Sextus Tarquinius, who
raped a Roman noblewoman named Lucretia. Lucretia compelled her family to take action by gathering the men, telling them what happened, and killing herself.
Lucius Junius Brutus incited the people of Rome against the royal family by displaying her body. They were impelled to avenge her, and Brutus led an uprising that drove the Tarquins out of Rome to take refuge in
Etruria. The result was the replacement of the monarchy with the new
Roman republic. Among the avengers were her husband Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, who was a nephew of
Tarquinius Priscus and one of the first consuls of Rome, along with Brutus.
St. Augustine made use of the figure of Lucretia in
The City of God to defend the honor of Christian women who had been raped in the sack of Rome and had not committed suicide.
|
A 1534 image of her suicide. |
The suicide of Lucretia has been an enduring subject for visual artists, including
Titian,
Rembrandt,
Dürer,
Raphael, Botticelli,
Breu,
Moreelse, and others.
The story of Lucretia has been told in
The Rape of Lucrece, a 1594 poem by
William Shakespeare (who also mentioned her in
Titus Andronicus);
The Rape of Lucrece, a 1607 play by
Thomas Heywood;
Le Viol de Lucrèce, a play by
André Obey; and
The Rape of Lucretia, a 1941 opera by
Benjamin Britten.
Two ladies fair, but most unfortunate:Have in their ruins rais'd declining Rome,:Lucretia and
Virginia, both renowned:For chastity(
Titus Andronicus)
*
The Rape of Lucretia, by Livy.
*
Various works depicting the rape and suicide of Lucretia
