biography
pronunciation:
[lookreesha]
| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (6th-c BC)
|
| biography:
| Roman heroine, the wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus who, according to legend, was raped by Sextus, the son of Tarquinius Superbus. She incited her father and husband to take an oath of vengeance against the Tarquins, then committed suicide by plunging a knife into her heart. The incident led to the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome, and the tale has formed the basis of several works, notably Shakespeare's Rape of Lucrece and the opera The Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten. |
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