Editing Titus Andronicus (section)

===Sources===
[[File:Tereo.jpg|thumb|left|''Tereus Confronted with the Head of his Son Itylus'' (1637) by [[Peter Paul Rubens]] ]]
In his efforts to fashion general history into a specific fictional story, Shakespeare may have consulted the ''[[Gesta Romanorum]]'', a well known thirteenth-century collection of tales, legends, myths, and anecdotes written in [[Latin]], which took figures and events from history and spun fictional tales around them.<ref>Jones (1977: 90)</ref> In Shakespeare's lifetime, a writer known for doing likewise was [[Matteo Bandello]], who based his work on that of writers such as [[Giovanni Boccaccio]] and [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], and who could have served as an indirect source for Shakespeare. So, too, could the first major English author to write in this style, [[William Painter (author)|William Painter]], who borrowed from, amongst others, [[Herodotus]], Plutarch, [[Aulus Gellius]], [[Claudius Aelianus]], Livy, [[Tacitus]], [[Giovanni Battista Giraldi]], and Bandello himself.<ref>Waith (1984: 35)</ref> However, it is also possible to determine more specific sources for the play. The primary source for the rape and mutilation of Lavinia, as well as Titus' subsequent revenge, is Ovid's ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' ({{circa|AD 8}}), which is featured in the play itself when Lavinia uses it to help explain to Titus and Marcus what happened to her. 

In the sixth book of ''Metamorphoses'', Ovid tells the story of the rape of [[Philomela]], daughter of [[Pandion I]], King of Athens. Despite ill [[omen]]s, Philomela's sister, [[Procne]], marries [[Tereus]] of [[Thrace]] and has a son for him, [[Itys]]. After five years in Thrace, Procne yearns to see her sister again, so she persuades Tereus to travel to Athens and accompany Philomela back to Thrace. Tereus does so, but he soon begins to lust after Philomela. When she refuses his advances, he drags her into a forest and rapes her. He then cuts out her tongue to prevent her from telling anyone of the incident and returns to Procne, telling her that Philomela is dead. However, Philomela weaves a [[tapestry]], in which she names Tereus as her assailant, and has it sent to Procne. The sisters meet in the forest and together plot their revenge. They kill Itys and cook his body in a pie, which Procne then serves to Tereus. During the meal, Philomela reveals herself, showing Itys' head to Tereus and telling him what they have done.<ref>Waith (1984: 27–28)</ref> For the scene where Lavinia reveals her rapists by writing in the sand, Shakespeare may have used a story from the first book of ''Metamorphoses''; the tale of the rape of [[Io (mythology)|Io]] by [[Zeus]], where, to prevent her from divulging the story, he turns her into a cow. Upon encountering [[Inachus|her father]], she attempts to tell him who she is but is unable to do so until she thinks to scratch her name in the dirt using her hoof.<ref>Maxwell (1953: 92)</ref>

Titus's revenge may also have been influenced by [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]]'s play ''[[Thyestes (Seneca)|Thyestes]]'', written in the first century AD. In the mythology of Thyestes, which is the basis for Seneca's play, [[Thyestes]], son of [[Pelops]], King of [[Pisa, Greece|Pisa]], who, along with his brother [[Atreus]], was exiled by Pelops for the murder of their half-brother, [[Chrysippus (mythology)|Chrysippus]]. They take up refuge in [[Mycenae]] and soon ascend to co-inhabit the throne. However, each becomes jealous of the other, and Thyestes tricks Atreus into electing him as the sole king. Determined to re-attain the throne, Atreus enlists the aid of Zeus and [[Hermes]], and has Thyestes banished from Mycenae. Atreus subsequently discovers that his wife, [[Aerope]], had been having an affair with Thyestes, and he vows revenge. He asks Thyestes to return to Mycenae with his family, telling him that all past animosities are forgotten. However, when Thyestes returns, Atreus secretly kills Thyestes's sons. He cuts off their hands and heads, and cooks the rest of their bodies in a pie. At a reconciliatory feast, Atreus serves Thyestes the pie in which his sons have been baked. As Thyestes finishes his meal, Atreus produces the hands and heads, revealing to the horrified Thyestes what he has done.<ref>Waith (1984:36–37)</ref>

Another specific source for the final scene is discernible when Titus asks Saturninus if a father should kill his daughter when she has been raped. This is a reference to the story of [[Verginia]] from Livy's ''[[Ab urbe condita libri|Ab urbe condita]]'' ({{circa|26 BC}}). Around 451 BC, a [[Decemviri|decemvir]] of the Roman Republic, [[Appius Claudius Crassus]], begins to lust after Verginia, a plebeian girl betrothed to a former tribune, [[Lucius Icilius]]. She rejects Claudius' advances, enraging him, and he has her abducted. However, both Icilius and Verginia's father, famed centurion Lucius Verginius, are respected figures and Claudius is forced to legally defend his right to hold Verginia. At the [[Roman Forum|Forum]], Claudius threatens the assembly with violence, and Verginius' supporters flee. Seeing that defeat is imminent, Verginius asks Claudius if he may speak to his daughter alone, to which Claudius agrees. However, Verginius stabs Verginia, determining that her death is the only way he can secure her freedom.<ref>Kahn (1997: 70–71)</ref>

For the scene where Aaron tricks Titus into cutting off one of his hands, the primary source was probably an unnamed popular tale about a Moor's vengeance, published in various languages throughout the sixteenth century (an English version entered into the [[Stationers' Register]] in 1569 has not survived).<ref>Waith (1984: 28–29)</ref> In the story, a married nobleman with two children chastises his Moorish servant, who vows revenge. The servant goes to the [[moat]]ed tower where the man's wife and children live, and rapes the wife. Her screams bring her husband, but the Moor pulls up the [[drawbridge]] before the nobleman can gain entry. The Moor then kills both children on the [[battlement]]s in full view of the man. The nobleman pleads with the Moor that he will do anything to save his wife, and the Moor demands he cut off his nose. The man does so, but the Moor kills the wife anyway, and the nobleman dies of shock. The Moor then flings himself from the battlements to avoid punishment.

Shakespeare also drew on various sources for the names of many of his characters. For example, Titus could have been named after the Emperor [[Titus|Titus Flavius Vespasianus]], who ruled Rome from 79 to 81. Jonathan Bate, Geoffrey Bullough and some other scholars have speculated that the name 'Andronicus' could have come from [[Andronikos I Komnenos|Andronicus Comnenus]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] emperor from 1183 to 1185. Like Titus Andronicus, Andronicus Comnenus was a cruel and tyrannical ruler who was ultimately overthrown and brutally killed by his own people. Andronicus Comnenus was also known to shoot arrows with messages attached, another trait that is shared with Titus Andronicus. In addition, both Andronicus Comnenus and Titus Andronicus lost their right hand shortly before their death.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGIqAAAAMAAJ&q=Titus+Andronicus |title=The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus, Volume 30 |date=1922 |publisher=[[The MacMillan Company]] |editor=Stoll, Elmer Edgar |page=xvi |access-date=April 24, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://thesis.unipd.it/retrieve/0665557b-eb8c-4a16-a29e-147329f7c7ca/Cinzia_Russo_-_thesis_-_Titus_Andronicus_-_no_illustrations.pdf |title=THE REPRESENTATION OF DEATH IN TITUS ANDRONICUS |date=2011|publisher=University of Padua, Faculty of Literature and Philosophy, Department of Anglo-Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures|editor=Alessandra Petrina and Cinzia Russo |page=18|access-date=May 19, 2025}}</ref> Others have speculated that Shakespeare took the name from the story "[[Androcles|Andronicus and the lion]]" in [[Antonio de Guevara]]'s ''[[Epistolas familiares]]''. That story involves a sadistic emperor named Titus who amused himself by throwing slaves to wild animals and watching them be slaughtered. However, when a slave called Andronicus is thrown to a lion, the lion lies down and embraces the man. The emperor demands to know what has happened, and Andronicus explains that he had once helped the lion by removing a thorn from its foot. Bate speculates that this story, with one character called Titus and another called Andronicus, could be why several contemporary references to the play are in the form ''Titus & Ondronicus''.<ref>Bate (1995: 93–94)</ref>

Geoffrey Bullough argues that Lucius's character arc (estrangement from his father, followed by banishment, followed by a glorious return to avenge his family honour) was probably based on Plutarch's ''Life of [[Gaius Marcius Coriolanus|Coriolanus]]''.<ref>Bullough (1964: 24)</ref> As for Lucius' name, [[Frances Yates]] speculates that he may be named after [[Lucius of Britain|Saint Lucius]], who introduced [[Christianity]] into Britain.<ref>Frances Yates, ''Astraea: The Imperial Theme in the Sixteenth Century'' (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975), 70–79</ref> On the other hand, Jonathan Bate hypothesises that Lucius could be named after [[Lucius Junius Brutus]], founder of the [[Roman Republic]], arguing that "the man who led the people in their uprising was Lucius Junius Brutus. This is the role that Lucius fulfills in the play."<ref>Bate (1995: 92)</ref>

The name of Lavinia was probably taken from the mythological figure of [[Lavinia]], daughter of [[Latinus]], King of [[Latium]], who, in [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', courts [[Aeneas]] as he attempts to settle his people in Latium. A. C. Hamilton speculates that the name of Tamora could have been based upon the historical figure of [[Tomyris]], a violent and uncompromising [[Massagetae]] queen.<ref>A. C. Hamilton, ''The Early Shakespeare'' (San Marino: Huntington Library, 1967), 87</ref> Eugene M. Waith suggests that the name of Tamora's son, Alarbus, could have come from [[George Puttenham]]'s ''The Arte of English Poesie'' (1589), which contains the line "the Roman prince did daunt/Wild Africans and the lawless Alarbes."<ref>Quoted in Waith (1984: 87)</ref> G. K. Hunter has suggested Shakespeare may have taken Saturninus's name from [[Herodian]]'s ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'', which features a jealous and violent tribune named Saturninus.<ref>Hunter (1983b: 183)</ref> On the other hand, Waith speculates that Shakespeare may have been thinking of an [[Astrology|astrological]] theory which he could have seen in [[Guy Marchant]]'s ''The Kalendayr of the shyppars'' (1503), which states that Saturnine men (i.e. men born under the influence of [[Planets in astrology#Saturn|Saturn]]) are "false, envious and malicious."<ref>Quoted in Waith (1984: 83)</ref>

Shakespeare most likely took the names of Caius, Demetrius, Marcus, Martius, Quintus, Æmilius, and Sempronius from Plutarch's ''Life of [[Scipio Africanus]]''. Bassianus's name probably came from [[Caracalla|Lucius Septimius Bassianus]], better known as Caracalla, who, like Bassianus in the play, fights with his brother over succession, one appealing to [[primogeniture]] and the other to popularity.<ref>Law (1943: 147)</ref>