Shakespearean Lucrece in the context of European tradition

Within the framework of the discourse of Lucrece the article considers the texts written by Livius, Ovid, Saint Augustine, Juan de Mena, J.Chaucer, G.Gower and W.Painter and other authors to compare their versions with the one made by W.Shakespeare in the poem "Lucrece". The comparison is made at several levels (plot, idea and character), which allows not only to identify the common and different in the plot, motifs and the image of the heroine, but also to reveal in the analysed versions texts-sources of W.Shakespeare's poem. Chronological investigation of the texts allows to trace traditions of narration about Lucrece and ideas brought into it by each epoch.