Home › Glossary › Letter A

Agrippina

Historical Figure
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Roman empress and mother of Nero, known for her political ambition and ruthless influence

Detailed Definition
Agrippina the Younger manipulated imperial succession to place her son Nero on the throne, ultimately falling victim to his paranoia. Her life reflects the dangers of female power in a patriarchal system. In poetry, she symbolizes maternal ambition, political intrigue, and the tragic consequences of wielding influence in a male-dominated world.
Example
Example in poetry:
Agrippina the Younger appears in Ben Jonson’s “Sejanus His Fall” as a scheming matriarch of imperial Rome; Poets use Agrippina to symbolize maternal ambition turned destructive; In Restoration drama, Agrippina embodies the dangerous power of women in politics; Victorian poets contrast Agrippina’s ruthlessness with idealized femininity; Modern feminist poetry reclaims Agrippina as a survivor in a patriarchal court; Agrippina’s poisoning of Claudius is referenced in poetic meditations on betrayal and power.
Additional Notes
Agrippina the Younger (15–59 CE), mother of Emperor Nero and wife of Emperor Claudius, was a powerful and controversial figure in imperial Rome; poets often invoke her as a symbol of maternal ambition, political ruthlessness, or the corrupting influence of power—Tacitus and Cassius Dio portray her vividly, and she appears in Senecan tragedy and later works like Racine’s “Britannicus”; her name may also signal themes of dynastic intrigue or gendered authority in historical poetry.
Also Known As
Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina
Skip to main content