Lucrece

Lucrece, also sometimes called Lucretia, is a figure in Roman history and the central character of the poem. She is the daughter of Lucretius and married to Collatine, making her a Roman matron. Her responsibilities, therefore, would be to keep her husband's home and to live up to the high moral expectations of her position.

Lucrece is described as being very beautiful, but more than that, she is extremely virtuous. She is called "Lucrece the chaste," an epithet that shows she is known for fulfilling her primary duty as a married Roman woman: remaining faithful to her husband (7). Lucrece is also an intelligent and cultured woman, who makes many references to the most important mythological and historical works of her day and who speaks with remarkable eloquence. Her actions at the end of the poem are confounding: she knows she was not at fault for what Tarquin did...