Hermaphroditus A mythic figure with both
female and male actual qualities. Child
of Aphrodite and Hermes. Traditional sources
are Diodorus Siculus' Library of History
(4.6.5), Ovid's Metamorphores (4.285-388),
what's more, Strabo's Geography (14.2.16). In Ovid's
Transformations, the adolescent Hermaphroditus
washed in a wellspring at Salmacis. A sprite fell
in affection with him, however Hermaphroditus dismissed
her. The fairy (some of the time called Salmacis)
folded herself over him, asking that she
could never be separated from him. Her requests
were replied as their two bodies became one.
The waters wherein he washed were a short time later
said to deny men of virility.
In traditional workmanship, Hermaphroditus was rep-
loathed with both female and male physical
ascri
