Please note that today's post is in no way supposed to glamorize suicide. I actually struggled with writing this post because, while I love the story, I didn't want to send the wrong message to people. The woman I'm discussing lived in a different time with different social mores. She chose what she deemed the best option given her gender, her circumstances, and her sense of duty and honor.
Lucretia is actually not a mythological character. She was an actual woman who lived in ancient Rome when it was still a monarchy. Her story is so important that it has been told and retold until it became a part of the Roman myths - I first heard about it in a mythology college class, in fact. Various embellishments and variances have been added to her story throughout the years, granting it the status of a legend, but the core history of it remains true.
Shall we begin?
I've mentioned before that the traits which were most valued in ancient Rome were duty and honor. One had a duty to Rome, to their family, and to themselves. Both the country, the family, and the person also had a sense of honor which they were expected to uphold at all times. A lot of focus is put upon the male side of this; sacrifices made by military men for the good of Rome, politicians who chose to step down for the sake of their family's honor, things like that.
What doesn't get talked about often is the fact that the women were expected to do their duty and preserve both they and their family's honor every bit as much as the men were. That is the primary theme of the story of Lucretia.
When our tale begins, Rome is ruled by a king. She is also at war, and many of her men are on the front lines. A group of these men, officers and nobles, begin to boast one day of their wives. They each claim that their wife is the best, a paragon of virtue. This goes on for a bit before the prince of Rome, Sextus, suggests that the men take a brief break from the front lines. Why not return to the house of each man, and see what their wives are really up to while the head of the household is gone?
The men agree, and they ride back to the city straight away. As a group they visit one another's homes. Each man's wife is found to be unconcerned with the war, or their husbands' safety. They are instead hosting parties, drinking, and in general being frivolous.
All, that is, save for Lucretia.
When Lucius takes the men to his house, he finds his wife Lucretia with the house lights dimmed. By candlelight she and the servants are weaving bandages to send to the front lines. (What she's doing varies depending on the version of the story, but this is my favorite.) She greets her husband and his friends and serves as hostess to them, and everyone in the group is impressed by her. After a while the group takes its leave, with Lucius' wife having won the bet for him.
Unfortunately, Prince Sextus was very impressed by Lucretia.
Within a few days the prince rides back to Lucretia's home, this time without anyone else present. He enters her bedchambers and begins to make advances on Lucretia.
She refuses him flat out. Sextus threatens to rape her, and Lucretia swears that she will die before allowing him to dishonor her husband's name in such a way.
Furious, Sextus becomes even more of a scumbag than he already is. He tells Lucretia that if she will not allow him to have sex with her, he will kill her. He will then also kill a slave within the house, and arrange the two of them in bed together to make it look like they were having sex.
Adultery was a terrible crime for women in ancient Rome, particularly with a slave. To be found in such a way would bring great shame to Lucius' name and household.
To avoid this, Lucretia agrees to Sextus' demands. She lets him rape her, and he leaves in the morning.
Lucretia then rises and sends a messenger to the front lines of the army. She requests that her husband and her father return home, and that they each bring one man with them as a witness. Concerned, the men do so. When they arrive she tells them everything that occurred. The men are horrified, and swear revenge for her.
Now, Lucretia earns my respect just for this. Talking about sexual abuse is terrifying, and many victims (sadly and wrongly) feel a sense of shame. To tell your husband and father immediately after the rape took place takes a lot of courage...but it is Lucretia's next actions for which she is famous.
Lucretia is a smart woman. She knows that the tale will make its way around Rome. She also knows that a lot of attention will fall on her family because of what happened to her. If no punishment is dealt out for the adultery, Lucretia worries that women will use her as an example in the future. Perhaps a woman will meet willingly with a lover, and then call it rape and point out that Lucretia went unpunished.
Because of this, Lucretia draws her dagger. Before the eyes of the witnesses, she plunges it into her heart. Her dying words are "Let no unchaste woman plead Lucretia's example to outlive her dishonor."
It seems horrifying in this day and age. However, for that culture, Lucretia's suicide satisfied both her personal honor, the honor of her husband's, name, and the honor of Rome. Her death served as punishment for her adultery. No woman in the future would be able to cheat on her husband, brining dishonor to his name, without consequences.
This was what the Romans considered the ultimate duty of a woman to her family and to her country.
Lucretia's death makes those in the room weep and mourn...and it strikes a fire in the hearts of one, the witness brought by Lucretia's husband. His name is Brutus, and he is a politician. He stands and declares vengeance upon Sextus for his actions, and upon all of the royal family.
Following Brutus' lead, the other men all also swear to tear down the monarchy as justice for Lucretia.
Under Brutus' watch, the armies of Rome rise up against the royal family, who are eventually driven out of Rome. It is in this way that the monarchy of Rome is abolished, and the Roman Republic established.
And all because of Lucretia.
It's a pretty depressing story, but it's also quite interesting to me that the overthrow of the nobility and the rise of the republic are all attributed to the actions of a female.
I found out while looking at images for this post that Shakespeare wrote a poem called The Rape of Lucrece about these events. I haven't read it before, but I'm definitely planning on checking it out.
What did you guys think?
No comments:
Post a Comment