The next day Lucretia, dressed in black, goes to her father's house in Rome and casts herself down, weeping. He identifies himself and offers her two choices: she can submit to his sexual advances and become his wife and future queen, or he will kill her and one of her slaves and place the bodies together, then claim he has caught her having adulterous sex. Collatinus' wife, Lucretia, daughter of Spurius Lucretius, prefect of Rome, "a man of distinction," makes sure that the king's son is treated as becomes his rank, although her husband is away at the siege.Īt night however, Tarquin enters her bedroom by stealth, quietly going around the slaves who are sleeping at her door. Tarquin is received with great hospitality at the governor's mansion, home of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, son of the king's nephew, Arruns Tarquinius, former governor of Collatia and first of the Tarquinii Collatini. The story begins with Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, last king of Rome, who, being engaged in the siege of Ardea, sends his son, Tarquin, on a military errand to Collatia. It is said that Lucretia stood firm in her devotion to her husband, even when Tarquin threatened her life and honour, even while ultimately raping her. Later in the night, Tarquin enters Lucretia’s bedroom, blackmails her by threatening to kill her and her servants and claim he had found them having adulterous sex, if she does not submit to his sexual advances. In contrast, they find Lucretia home alone, working with her wool in silence. The men return home to find the women socializing with each other, presumably drinking and in conversation.
The men fight over which of their wives best exemplified “sophrosyne”, an ideal of superb moral and intellectual character. The story begins with a bet between the sons of Tarquinius and their kinsmen, Brutus and Collantinus.
While her husband was away at battle, Lucretia would stay at home and pray for his safe return. Lucretia was considered an exemplar of "beauty and purity," as well as Roman standards. The marriage between Lucretia and Collatinus was depicted as the ideal Roman union, as both Lucretia and Collatinus were faithfully devoted to one another. Her rape and subsequent suicide so enrages the public that this precipitates the fall of the Roman monarchy and leads to the formation of the Republic of Rome.
While the men are debating what to do, she stabs herself in the heart and dies. In the morning she tells her story to her father, the chief magistrate of Rome, and her husband. Lucretia is a noblewoman in ancient Rome who is blackmailed and raped by a guest to her home: the king’s son, Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin).
0 kommentar(er)
