Revisiting Rape in Antiquity

How did the Greeks and Romans perceive rape? How seriously was it taken, and who were seen as its main victims? These are two central questions that Rape in Antiquity: Sexual Violence in the Greek and Roman Worlds (1997), edited by Susan Deacy and Karen F. Pierce, aimed to approach in twelve chapters. Setting out to understand if the ancients had a concept of rape and how it was understood through different angles – including legal, social, cultural and historiographical – Rape in Antiquity made an invaluable contribution to the scholarship on sexual violence in the ancient world, impacting upon the development of new approaches in the decades that followed its publication.

Revisiting Rape in Antiquity: Sexualised Violence in Greek and Roman Worlds maps out the influence of Rape in Antiquity while exploring how far cultural changes since the 1990s have reshaped the scholarly landscape. This collection, comprising chapters by established scholars and early career researchers from many countries, provides a new window into sexual – and sexualized – violence. Covering a long chronology, this book journeys from Homer to Byzantium, to modern receptions, to the analysis of wartime rape, ancient Greek tragedy, classical myth, how stories involving rape are retold for children, ancient law and rhetoric, classical art, Ovid, Late Antiquity, modern literature, comic books and cinema. This book is the culmination of a rich scholarly inheritance, setting out new perspectives that will hopefully inspire researchers for decades to come.