Ovid’s Metamorphoses And The Greco-Roman Idea Of Sex And Gender

Though recent years have seen a healthy rise in activism, the intersex community remains marginalised & suppressed.

Ovid’s Metamorphoses is often regarded as one of the finest pieces of classical literature. It isn’t a mere collection of mythical poems, but also a reflection of Greco-Roman society.

Within the great Latin poet’s magnum opus, we find infused ideas of sex and gender, one such tale being that of the myth of Hermaphroditus.

This tale revolves around a young man, Hermaphroditus, the divine offspring of two Olympians: Hermes, also known as Mercury by the Romans, the god of travel, and Aphrodite, also known as Venus, the goddess of beauty.

The youth embodied in totality the Greek idea of masculine beauty with his lithe figure and divine good looks. Like much of Ovidian poetry, there are a lot of wanderings by the youth during which he comes across a clear pool of water. This, however, is no ordinary pool and is the residence of Salmacis, a rogue nymph who is besotted by the beauty possessed by the divine youth.

Salmacis is an ardent and impatient individual, and when the opportunity arrives, she dives into the water and clings to the youth with feverish erotic intent. The boy struggles in great distress to escape the tight clutches of the maniacal nymph, who, in a desperate attempt to possess the youth, calls upon the gods to make her and Hermaphroditus inseparable.

The gods grant the nymph’s wish and merge both individuals, resulting in a sudden transformation that causes the youth to possess both male and female genitalia. This chaotic transformation described by Ovid results in the creation of sexual ambiguity.

"The intermingled bodies of the two are joined together, and one form is brought upon them. Just as if someone grafts a branch onto a tree and sees that they are joined in growth and mature equally, whenever their limbs come together in a tenacious embrace, they are not two and their form is double so that it can be called neither woman nor man, and they seem simultaneously neither and both."

Ovid's Metamorphoses book IV

This sudden bodily change results in Hermaphroditus becoming loathsome and cursing the waters of the spring. So pained is he to see himself in this state that he urges his parents to curse the spring waters such that whoever bathes in them 'emerges half woman, weakened instantly.’ 

Stigma Against the Intersex Community

Though Ovid was banished from Rome during the Augustan age, his manuscripts remained popular and were often seen as a reflection of Roman society at that time.

His works also saw a resurgence alongside other classical literature during the Renaissance, resulting in a heavy influence on art, art theory, and societal ideas in general. The myth of Hermaphroditus, in particular, has had a profound impact on shaping ideas about sexuality and gender.

During the Roman Empire's reign, intersex people were looked at through a discriminatory lens as they were looked at as sub-human, and infants born with intersex variations were often subjected to infanticide, in which the baby would be drowned at sea in a ritualistic manner to appease the Pantheon, thus showing the extent of this prejudice.

We see the story of the divine youth as an account of intersexuality and ambiguity. It influenced many ideas, stereotypes, and preconceived notions surrounding intersex individuals, showing, in turn, the power mythical tales have in moulding our minds. Ovid’s tale reinforces certain misconceptions, such as the idea that intersexuality is obtained rather than a biologically ascriptive identity dependent upon an individual’s anatomy.

This resulted in the perception that there is something inherently wrong or incorrect about intersexual individuals rather than a naturally occurring variation found in human beings.

This idea was coupled with the feeling of shame and self-loathing that we can see at the end of this Ovidian tale, in which Hermaphroditus is overcome with disgust and self-hatred over his new emasculated figure. This perception of the intersex figure as hideous further aggravated a stigmatised view.

This stigmatised view and discriminatory perception of the intersex community have remained rampant, leading to horrific human rights violations, namely infanticide and forced medical procedures, coupled with a lack of judicial remedies and representation.

The term hermaphrodite was widely used for many centuries and became a common term used to refer to intersex individuals. This term was heavily used by medical practitioners in the Victorian era who lacked true embryological and etymological knowledge about intersexuality. It was only in the late 1940s that Alexander Polycleitos Cawadias suggested using the term intersex instead since hermaphrodite had misleading and stigmatising connotations.

Though recent years have seen a healthy rise in activism and representation, the intersex community remains marginalised and suppressed. Many intersex individuals continue their fight to escape from the societal prison of preconceived notions and stigma. They yearn for an era ushering in acceptance, and their fight for equitable representation could be best encapsulated by the words of Ovid himself: Suppressed grief suffocates; it rages within the breast and is forced to multiply its strength.

(The author is a student of social anthropology. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)