Thursday, June 05, 2008

The Mythology of "Rape of the Sabine Women"

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Who of you out there knew, that it the "Rape" really wasn't a "rape", but a "kidnapping" that turned into a multiple love story with an intriguing plot line and a serious lesson. 

 

The Rape of the Sabine Women

From Wikipedia,

The Rape of the Sabine Women (rape  in this context meaning "kidnapping" (raptio ) rather than its prevalent modern meaning of sexual violation) is an episode in the legendary early history of Rome narrated by Livy and Plutarch ('Lives' II, 15 and 19). It provided a subject for Renaissance and post-Renaissance works of art that combined a suitably inspiring example of the hardihood and courage of ancient Romans with the opportunity to depict multiple figures, including semi-clothed women, in intensely passionate struggle.

Comparable themes from Classical Antiquity are the Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs and the theme of Amazonomachy, the battle of Theseus with the A mazons. A comparable opportunity drawn from Christian legend was afforded by the theme of the Massacre of the Innocents.

Story

The word rape in this context means "abduction". It refers to an event supposed to have occurred in the early history of Rome, shortly after its foundation by Romulus and a group of mostly male followers. Seeking wives in order to found families, the Romans negotiated with the Sabines, who populated the area. The Sabines refused to allow their women to marry the Roman s, fearing the emergence of a rival culture. Faced with the extinction of their community, the Romans planned to abduct Sabine women. Romulus invited Sabine families to a festival of Neptune Equester. At the meeting he gave a signal, at which the Romans grabbed the Sabine women and fought off the Sabine men. The indignant abductees were implored by Romulus to accept Roman husbands.

Livy is clear that no sexual assault took place. On the contrary, Romulus offered them free choice and promised civic and property rights to women. According to Livy he spoke to them each in person, "and pointed out to them that it was all owing to the pride of their parents in denying right of intermarriage to their neighbours. They would live in honourable wedlock, and share all their property and civil rights, anddearest of all to human naturewould be the mothers of free men."

The women married Roman men, but the Sabines went to war with the Romans. The conflict was eventually resolved when the women, who now had children by their Roman husbands, intervened in a battle to reconcile the warring parties.

[They] went boldly into the midst of the flying missiles with dishevelled hair and rent garments. Running across the space between the two armies they tried to stop any further fighting and calm the excited passions by appealing to their fathers in the one army and their husbands in the other not to bring upon themselves a curse by staining their hands with the blood of a father-in-law or a son-in-law, nor upon their posterity the taint of parricide. "If," they cried, "you are weary of these ties of kindred, these marriage-bonds, then turn your anger upon us; it is we who are the cause of the war, it is we who have wounded and slain our husbands and fathers. Better for us to perish rather than live without one or the other of you, as widows or as orphans."

 

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