Hermaphroditus

Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite in Greek mythology, a beautiful youth who was joined with the nymph Salmacis in a spring in Caria and became a being of two sexes. His name is a combination of the names of his parents.

Parents and Name

Diodorus Siculus says that Hermaphroditus was born of Hermes and Aphrodite and received a name combining the names of both parents. Some, he writes, regarded him as a god who appears at times among men, with a body that is beautiful and delicate like a woman’s but with the strength of a man (Diodorus Siculus 4.6.5). Ovid says that his face showed both his mother and his father, and that he took his name from them (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.288–291).

Childhood on Mount Ida

According to Ovid, the Naiads raised the boy in the caves of Mount Ida. When he reached the age of three times five years, he left the mountains of his home and the nurse Ida, and enjoyed wandering through strange places and seeing unknown rivers. His travels took him to the cities of Lycia and then to neighbouring Caria (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.288–297).

Hermaphroditus and Salmacis

In Caria Hermaphroditus found a clear pool, bordered with fresh turf and ever-green grass. The nymph who lived there, Salmacis, was unlike the other Naiads: she did not hunt, but bathed in her pool, combed her hair and looked at her reflection. One day she saw the boy and desired him. She tidied herself and spoke to him, but he blushed and refused her, not yet knowing what love was. When he threatened to leave, she pretended to go away and hid in the bushes. Hermaphroditus, believing himself alone, undressed and dived into the pool, and Salmacis, burning with desire, threw off her clothes and leapt in after him. She clung to him as he struggled, winding herself about him like a serpent seized by an eagle, or like ivy round a tree trunk, or an octopus round its prey (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.285–367).

The Union of Two Bodies

As he resisted, Salmacis prayed that no day might ever separate her from him, and the gods heard her. The two bodies were joined into one, with one face; they were no longer two, yet the form was double, and could be called neither woman nor boy but seemed to be both and neither (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.368–379). Hermaphroditus, seeing that the water had made him half a man and that his limbs were softened, prayed to his father and mother that whoever came into the spring as a man should leave it half a man, and weaken at the touch of its waters. His parents granted the wish and put a drug into the spring (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.380–388).

The Spring of Salmacis

The spring was a real place at Halicarnassus. Strabo says that near the tomb of Mausolus there is a fountain called Salmacis, which has a bad reputation for making those who drink from it effeminate, though he does not know why, and thinks that effeminacy comes from riches and wanton living rather than from the air or water (Strabo 14.2.16). Ovid presents the story as the explanation of the spring’s reputation (Metamorphoses 4.285–287).

Hermaphroditus Sources

The fullest account is Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.285–388. Other sources used here: Diodorus Siculus 4.6.5 and Strabo 14.2.16.

See Also: Hermes, Aphrodite, Priapus