Double Standard Rape (Divine on Mortal): Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

[[Captain Obvious|Gods are powerful]], and back in the old days they generally considered morality to be a [[Jerkass Gods|quaint little custom that was not their style]]. In ancient Greece, [[Values Dissonance|rapists were often considered virtuous while the victims got blamed for not being strong enough to defend themselves.]]

#'''Indirect:''' The divinity impregnates the mortal in a manner that does not appear to involve conventional intercourse. One popular method was turn into a cloud of shimmery mist and impregnate a hot chick in that form.

 

 

This trope applies not just to gods, but also to demigods and others with [[Divine Parentage]]. [[Values Dissonance|It is a staple of]] [[Greek Mythology]]. Nowadays, it's mostly a [[Forgotten Trope]]. See also [[Double Standard Rape (Sci Fi)]].

 

 

 

'''[[Long List|Track Record]]:'''

* Zeus was pretty much an [[Depraved Bisexual|equal opportunity rapist]]. He abducted the beautiful prince Ganymede in the form of an eagle so that Ganymede could become his eromenos. [[Just-So Story|Ganymede was made into the constellation Aquarius]] so that Hera couldn't hurt him. No, Zeus was never subtle about his infidelity.

 

'''Examples:'''

 

* Another example of this is the moon goddess Selene, who placed the lovely youth Endymion into an eternal sleep so that he could be immortal and proceeded to give birth to fifty daughters by him.

* Happens to Odysseus in ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]''. After Circe had turned all his men into animals, Odysseus attacked her with his sword. She was surprised by this, but laughed at his futile attempt to fight and made him her lover. Afterwards his men were turned back into people and they all quite happily spent a year feasting on her island. The alternate myth (used in Homer's version), has Odysseus raping Circe (on the advice of Hermes) after using a magic plant to become immune to her powers.

* In some versions of the [[Cassandra Truth|myth of Cassandra]], the curse that no one would believe her prophecies came about when she refused Apollo's advances. Mind you, the gift of prophecy was something he gave her in an attempt to make her consent, so arguably Apollo was nicer about this than the norm.

* Inverted in the myth explaining the name of the Areopagus: the first trial held there was when Poseidon prosecuted Ares for killing his son Halirrhothios. Depending on the myth, Ares' defence was either that Halirrhothios [[Revenge|had raped]] his daughter Alcippe, or that he was [[Attempted Rape|trying to do so]].

* In ''[[EverQuest]]'', Innoruuk, the God of Hate, disguised himself as a regular dark elf male and impregnated a woman on the night of the Blood Moon festival that the dark elves celebrate every so often. Ceremony states that the female is supposed to ritually kill her mate as a sacrifice in Innoruuk's name if they have sex on that night. Of course, Innoruuk could spare a mortal body of some random dark elf, but the woman eventually gave birth to Lanys T'Vyl, Innoruuk's daughter and future Demi-Goddess of Strife.

 

'''Examples:'''

* A very indirect example: when King Minos of Crete refused to sacrifice a white bull for Poseidon, Poseidon punishes him by making Minos' wife Pasiphae fall in love with the bull. She had a wooden cow made and climbed inside so [[But You Screw One Goat!|the bull would have sex with her]]. She then later gave birth to a [[Half-Human Hybrid|half human/half bull creature]] that became the Minotaur.

* The best-known Aztec account of Huitzilopochtli's birth says his mother Coatlicue was impregnated with him when a ball of feathers fell into her lap.

* The story of Jesus' birth in ''[[The Bible]]'' is sometimes accused of being this. In the Book of Matthew (note that the books of the New Testament were originally separate texts, only later compiled into the whole we have today), we are told nothing whatsoever about how Mary felt about divine impregnation. The Book of Luke is better about this: we get a scene where an angel tells Mary she is going to conceive and bear a son, and Mary is happy about this. However, the angel doesn't actually ask what she wants; it just tells her what's going to happen.

 

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