Lucretia
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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.
[edit] In the arts
The suicide of Lucretia has been an enduring subject for visual artists, including Titian, Rembrandt, Dürer, Raphael, Botticelli, Jörg Breu the Elder, Johannes Moreelse, and others.
The story of Lucretia has been told in The Legend of Good Women, a 1380s poem by Geoffrey Chaucer,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 1931 play by André Obey; and The Rape of Lucretia, a 1946 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)
[edit] In popular culture
Episode 6, "Queen of Heaven", of the BBC miniseries I, Claudius opens with a scene where a Roman noblewoman, Lollia (played by Isabel Dean), recounts to her friends how she participated in the perverse orgies orchestrated by the emperor Tiberius so that he would not try to include her daughter in them. Even though she has saved her daughter, Lollia is so ashamed of how Tiberius' lust has tainted her that she stabs herself in front of her assembled guests. This scene - fictionalised from Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars[citation needed] - may have meant to allude to the legend of Lucretia, as a powerful indictment of the emperor and perhaps also as a cry for a return to republicanism.
"Lucretia" is the title of a song on the album Rust in Peace by American thrash-metal band Megadeth, written by singer Dave Mustaine. Additionally, two song titles on Blood, Sweat & Tears 3, an album by Blood, Sweat & Tears, refer to Lucretia: "Lucretia MacEvil" and "Lucretia's Reprise". Both songs were written by lead singer David Clayton-Thomas.
"Lucretia my reflection" is also the title of a song on the album Floodland, by gothic band The Sisters of Mercy (this is, however, a reference to Lucrezia Borgia).
She is referred to in the song, "Subhuman" by Garbage (on their B-sides album) as a "smart girl."
She is also mentioned in the song, "Bare Grace Misery" by Nightwish.
This legend draws parallels to the character Lucretia in the popular video game Final Fantasy VII. In it, Lucretia becomes a scientific guinea pig and ends up giving birth to the antagonist, Sephiroth. She, like the original Lucretia, commits suicide over her shame.
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