History Main / DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal

* According to some sources, Poseidon raped a virgin priestess of Athena named Medusa within the goddess' own temple. Medusa was [[DisproportionateRetribution transformed into a Gorgon by Athena]] as punishment.

* According to some sources, Poseidon raped Medusa -- who was [[DisproportionateRetribution punished for it]] by Athena, in whose temple it had happened, by being transformed into a Gorgon.

This trope applies not just to gods, but also to demigods and others with DivineParentage. [[ValuesDissonance It is a staple of]] GreekMythology. Nowadays, it's mostly a ForgottenTrope. See also DoubleStandardRapeSciFi.

[[quoteright:338:[[TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Wonderlla_7526.png]]]]

* This trope didn't skip over {{Norse Mythology}}. Freyr, God of Fertility and Sexuality, got his Giantess wife Gerth by sending over a servant to threaten her loved ones until she consented. Joke's on him, though- during the Ragnarok, the sword he gave the servant so he could do his job turned out to be crucial, and without it, he forfeited his life.

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

''[[AutoTuneTheNews Well, obviously we have a rapist on]] [[ClassicalMythology Mount Olympus]]. [[MemeticMutation He's climbin' in yo' windows, he's snatchin' yo' people up, tryin' to rape 'em.]] [[AnythingThatMoves So y'all need to hide ya' kids, hide ya' wife, and hide ya' husband, 'cause they rapin' e'rybody out here.]]''

''[[AutoTuneTheNews Well, obviously we have a rapist on]] [[ClassicalMythology Mount Olympus]]. [[MemeticMutation He's climbin' in yo' windows, he's snatchin' yo' people up, tryin' to rape 'em. So y'all need to hide ya' kids, hide ya' wife, and hide ya' husband, 'cause they rapin' e'rybody out here.]]''

* Semele, mother of Dionysus, was said to have been fed a potion by Zeus that impregnated her with a divine child. Shortly after the impregnation Semele was [[ItMakesSenseInContext incinerated]], Zeus took the fetus, sewed it into his thigh and delivered him on term.

'''[[strike: Examples:]] [[LongList Track Record]]:'''

* OlderThanDirt: As King, [[TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] (who was 'two thirds' a god) made it a rule that all women who were about to get married had to have sex with him first. This ''did'' piss his subjects off, and the gods sent Enkidu to wrestle Gilgamesh and give him an outlet for his pent up energy (and yes, we do realize that [[HoYay can be taken more ways than one]], which was in the original myth too).
* In Roman myth, Rhea Silvia was a Vestal Virgin who claimed she was violently raped by Mars, god of war. As a result, she conceived two twins, Romulus and Remus. Since she was a Vestal Virgin, she couldn't very well raise them, and so she left them on a hillside, where they were raised by [[WildChild a she-wolf]]. Long story short, [[JustSoStory this is how Rome was founded]].

** Just to make it weirder: This was actually the ''standard'' conception story for the Pharaohs, it's just that normally, a boy was begotten. This meant that it was, in fact, quite possible that any woman married to a Pharaoh was hoping for this to happen: this, and not birth order, supposedly determined whom the heir was.
* Another example of this is the moon goddess Selene, who placed the youth Endymion into an eternal sleep so that he would be immortal and proceeded to give birth to fifty daughters by him.

* 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.
* Happens to Odysseus in ''Literature/TheOdyssey'': after Circe had tuned all his men into animals Odysseus attacked her with his sword. She was surprised by this, but laughed at his futile attempts to fight and made him her lover. Afterwards his men were turned back into people and allowed to live in her house for awhile. However, Odysseus and his men quite happily spent a year feasting on her island. The alternate myths (used in Homer's version), have Odysseus raping ''Circe'' (on the advice of Mercury) after using a magic plant to become immune to her powers.
* Inverted in the myth to explain the name of Areopagus: the first trial there was when Poseidon prosecuted Ares for killing his son Halirrhothios. Depending on the myth Ares's defense is either that Halirrhothios [[{{Revenge}} had raped]] his daughter Alcippe, or that he was [[AttemptedRape trying to do so]].
* Also inverted in all the myths where a fleeing woman gets [[BalefulPolymorph transformed]] to escape: Daphne into a laurel, from Apollo, and Cornix into a crow, from Neptune, for instance.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurupi Kurupi]] from GuaraniMythology. The proof that [[EldritchAbomination eldritch monsters]] raping women is NOT a recent concept.
* According to some versions of the story, Poseidon raped Medusa -- who was ''punished for it'' by Athena, whose temple it happened in, by being cursed with her Gorgon form. Made worse by the fact that they were cousins.
* In some versions of the [[CassandraTruth myth of Cassandra]], the curse of Cassandra's prophecies (that nobody would ever believe her) came about when she wouldn't consent to 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.

* 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 [[ButYouScrewOneGoat the bull would have sex with her]]. She then later gave birth to a [[HalfHumanHybrid half human/half bull creature]] that became the Minotaur.

** Which is ''also'' how Etain ends up being reborn as a human in CelticMythology, though in her case it was with a butterfly and a chalice of wine.

* The story of Jesus' birth in ''Literature/TheBible'' sometimes gets 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.

* Semele, mother of Dionysus, was said to have been fed a potion by Zeus that impregnated her with her divine child. Shortly after the impregnation Semele was [[ItMakesSenseInContext incinerated]], Zeus took the fetus, turned him into a portion of his thigh and delivered him on term.

* Zeus disguised himself as a satyr to rape Antiope while she slept.

* Zeus had sex with Eurymedusa having turned both of them into ants.

* Callisto was a virgin follower of Artemis, so in order to seduce her, Zeus [[LesYay too the guise of Artemis]]. When Callisto realised his true identity, she was turned into a bear.

* Callisto was a virgin follower of Artemis, so in order to seduce her, Zeus [[LesYay transformed himself into Artemis]]. When Callisto realised who he was, she was turned into a bear

* A type two example: Danae was locked underground by her father Acrisius, to stop her having the son that was prophesied to kill him. Zeus appeared to Danae as a shower of gold, conceiving the hero Perseus. Her father then put both her and her son [[GirlInABox in a chest]] and threw them into the sea.

* Europa was ravished by Zeus in the form of a bull before [[AbductionIsLove being whisked away to Crete]]. Ouch. Some sources say he just used the bull form to seduce her and turned into a more human form before he actually raped her, which just makes it creepier.
* A type two example: Danae was locked underground by her father Acrisius, to stop her having the son that was prophesied to kill him. Zeus appeared to Danae as a shower of gold, conceiving the hero Perseus. Her father then locked both her and her son Perseus in a chest and threw them into the sea.

* Europa was ravished by Zeus in the form of a bull before being whisked away to Crete. Ouch. Some sources say he just used the bull form to seduce her and turned into a more human form before he actually raped her, which just makes it creepier.

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

* Io had it particularly rough. She was pestered by Zeus to have sex with him until her father was fed up with it and kicked her out (because you just don't say no to Zeus), and then Zeus raped her. To keep Hera from finding out, Zeus turned her into a cow, which Hera then forced him to present to her as a gift. Hermes helps her escape and she flees to Egypt, pursued by a fly that Hera sent to sting her. Once there she's finally turned back into a human and is worshipped as a goddess. Also, [[JustSoStory this is why women have periods]].

* '''[[IfItsYouItsOkay Benevolent]]:''' Personal attention from a super-being you worship? Awesome. Getting to become the mother of a God or Demigod? Lovely! Consent? Meh! A character in this position would have been ''deeply'' offended if anyone had tried to label them "rape victims". And this doesn't give any other supernatural entity the right to treat them the same way. ''That'' would be a violation.

* To father Heracles, Zeus had sex with Alcmene in the guise of her husband.
* Zeus had sex with Eurymedusa while turning both him and her into ants.
* Helen of Troy and her brother Pollux were conceived when Zeus raped her mother Leda in the form of a swan. The details of the birth are not well described, but apparently it involved the babies along with their half siblings Castor and Clytemnestra hatching from eggs.
* Europa was ravished by Zeus in the form of a bull. Ouch. Some sources say he just used the bull form to seduce her and turned into a more human form before he actually raped her, which just makes it creepier.
* Io had it particularly rough. She was pestered by Zeus to have sex with him until her father was fed up with his bothering and kicked her out (because you just don't kick Zeus out), and then Zeus raped her. To keep Hera from finding out, Zeus turned her into a cow, which Hera then forced him to present to her as a gift. The universe really hates Io. She gets better, though. Also, [[JustSoStory this is why women have periods]].
** In one version, Io escapes as a cow and makes it to Egypt, where she is worshiped as a goddess. Hera decides to give up on revenge so long as Io stays there and Zeus is allowed to turn her back into a human. So she gets a pretty good shake by the end.
* Zeus was pretty much an equal opportunity rapist. He abducted Ganymede in the form of an eagle so that Ganymede could become his eromenos. [[JustSoStory Ganymede was made into the constellation Aquarius]] so that Hera couldn't hurt him. No, Zeus was never subtle about his infidelity.
* A type two example: Danae was locked underground by her father Acrisius, to stop her having the son that was prophesied to kill him. Zeus appeared to Danae as a shower of gold, conceiving the hero Perseus. Her father then locked both her and her son in a chest.
* Semele, mother of Dionysus, was said to have been fed a potion by Zeus that impregnated her with her divine child. Shortly after the impregnation Semele died, Zeus took the fetus, turned him into a portion of his thigh and delivered him on term.

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

#'''Direct:''' The divinity explicitly rapes or ravishes the mortal. Sometimes the god [[BedTrick disguised himself so that the woman thought she was sleeping with her husband]]. Other times they manifested as a beautiful or impressive animal, and [[{{Squick}} impregnated the poor woman that way]]. Sometimes it was just outright rape. You name it, [[ClassicalMythology Zeus]] did it, and many other gods did so as well.

!!''ZEUS, God of Horndogs!''

And in case you're wondering, mortal women were ''far'' from being the only targets of not-so-holy intentions of the gods; many goddesses -- and not a few gods, for that matter -- were known for [[RapeIsOkWhenItsFemaleOnMale doing the same thing to mortal men]].

And in case you're wondering, mortal women were ''far'' from being the only targets of not-so-holy intentions of the gods; many goddesses -- and not a few gods, for that matter -- were known for [[RapeIsOkWhenItIsFemaleOnMale doing the same thing to mortal men]].

----

* Zeus was pretty much an equal opportunity rapist. He abducted Ganymede in the form of an eagle so that Ganymede could become his eromenos. To those of you not versed in Greek mythology and ancient Greek pederasty, Ganymede was a guy and "eromenos" meant the adolescent partner in a [[LoverAndBeloved male homosexual ephebophilic relationship]].
** And long story short, [[JustSoStory Ganymede was made into the constellation Aquarius]] so that Hera couldn't hurt him. No, Zeus was never subtle about his infidelity.

* Semele, mother of Dionysus, was said to have been fed a potion by Zeus that impregnated her with her divine child.
** And Dionysus was actually born by Zeus ... from his thigh. Really. Shortly after the impregnation Semele died, Zeus took the fetus, turned him into a portion of his thigh and delivered him on term.

* When Hatshepsut was staking her claim for King of Egypt she said that she was actually the [[strike:daughter]] ''son'' of Ra who had slept with her mother in the guise of Thutmose II (her real father). Therefore in the context of the story Hatshepsut's mum thought she was having sex with her husband when really it was Ra.
** Just to make it weirder: This was actually the ''standard'' conception story for the Pharaohs, it's just that normally, a boy was begotten. This meant that it was, in fact, quite possible that any woman married to a Pharaoh was hoping for this to happen: this, and not birth order, supposedly determined whom the heir was. (Does it still count as rape if it's a desirable part of the job?)

** Only worse in the accounts where it isn't explicitly stated he'd agreed to the situation out of ''his'' love for ''her''.

* Happens to Odysseus in Literature/TheOdyssey: after Circe had tuned all his men into animals Odysseus attacked her with his sword. She was surprised by this, but laughed at his futile attempts to fight and made him her lover. Afterwards his men were turned back into people and allowed to live in her house for awhile. However, Odysseus and his men quite happily spent a year feasting on her island. The alternate myths (used in Homer's version), have Odysseus raping ''Circe'' (on the advice of Mercury) after using a magic plant to become immune to her powers.

* Maria in StationeryVoyagers is struck with a purple comet/fireball-type thing that electrocutes her and impregnates her. Yes, she consented to the plan to conceive Minshus [[LightningCanDoAnything this way]]. It doesn't stop some modern Mantithians from claiming it was statutory rape, [[DidNotDoTheResearch in spite the fact]] that in her time period, [[SoCalization Antian statutory rape laws did not exist]] and 14 was considered "adult." Ribando is forced to remind his audience of those details.
* Subverted in StargateSG1 with Vala. The Ori impregnate Vala with Adria as a way of smuggling a human version of themselves into the galaxy without violating the rules with the Ancients. Subverted because it is very much considered not okay by everyone involved.

** Also seen in an ancient egyptian myth. A humble hermit's god-given trophy wife is proposed to by the pharoh and has him kill her husband so that he won't come after her. The husband is reincarnated through several forms, taunting his murderous ex each time. Eventually, he's reincarnated as a tree and the wife orders the pharoh to chop it down. She watches tree being felled and a splinter from the lumberjack's axe flies into her mouth and impregnates her with her vindictive ex. The baby born is crown prince, because the pharoh assumes it's his. Decades later, when the pharoh dies and ex-hubby takes the throne, his first royal order is to have his ex-wife (now also his mother) executed for killing him. Just goes to show revenge is a dish best served cold.

<<|SpeculativeFictionTropes|>>
<<|RapeTropes|>>
<<|ReligionTropes|>>

This trope applies not just to gods, but also to demigods and others with DivineParentage. [[ValuesDissonance It is a staple of]] GreekMythology. Nowadays, it's mostly a ForgottenTrope. See also RapeIsOkWhenItIsSciFi.

** The details were described rather luridly in a well known poem by WilliamButlerYeats.
--->''"How could [she] push the feathered glory from her loosening thighs?"''

** The bull may have "raped" Europa in the old meaning of "forcibly abducted"; one version of the legend has Zeus-bull behaving so sweetly and tamely that Europa gets up on his back to ride-- and off he gallops, over land and sea...
* Io had it particularly rough. She was pestered by Zeus to have sex with him until her father was fed up with his bothering and kicked her out (because you just don't kick Zeus out), and then Zeus raped her. To keep Hera from finding out, Zeus turned her into a cow, which Hera then forced him to present to her as a gift. The universe really hates Io. [[IGotBetter She gets better]], though. Also, [[JustSoStory this is why women have periods]].