Citation

Koulianou-Manolopoulou P, Fernández Villanueva C. Athenea Digital 2008; (14): 1-20.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Red de Revistas Cientificas América Latina y el Caribe, España y Portugal)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The present paper attempts to show how rape is represented in a variety of historical and contemporary discourses. Examples of rapes in Greek mythology, in the Bible, in medieval iconography, in literature, and in scientific theories, are compared and contrasted. Analysis suggests that such discourses tend to make sexual aggression (and specifically the rape of women) legitimate, be it by minimizing the harm done; by normalizing and naturalizing sexual violence; or by aesthetisizing rape as art. Finally, the paper argues that putting modern legal accounts of rape into their historical perspective brings into sharper focus the persistence of ancient myths and discourses