Hermaphroditus was the love-child of Hermes and Aphrodite. He raised on Mount Ida by Phrygian nymphs. He posessed the best attributes of his parents--his father's athletic ability and his mother's charms and beauty. He soon left Mount Ida and set out to explore the world. One day, as he was bathing, he was approached by the nymph Salamacis who, because of his "devilish handsomness", professed her love for him. Startled and confused by her adoration, Hermaphroditus rejects her. She then embraces him tightly and audibly prays to the gods that they would never be seperated. The gods, hearing her prayer, grant her wish and merge Hermaphroditus and Salamacis into one body. Hermaphroditus then became "doublegendered", displaying both male and female attributes. He then cursed the pool he was bathing in by saying anyone who entered it would suffer his same fate. The myth of Hermaphroditus is where the English language gets the word "hermaphrodite" (meaning having both male and female reproductive organs).
1. |
There are many modern examples of hermaphrodites in pop culture such as a storyline involving Jennifer Aniston's character Rachel Green on the TV show Friends. In the storyline, Rachel learns there was a rumor in high school that she had both male and female reproductive organs. Another example is Mrs. Cartman from the TV show South Park. In a cliffhanger episode, we learn that Eric Cartman's mother is actually his father, due to the fact that his mother is a hermaphrodite. Another example is the 1994 movie "It's Pat" starring Julia Sweeney. In the movie Pat is of indeterminate gender, posessing both male and female characteristics. Pat falls in love with Chris, who also has an indeterminate sex. "It's Pat" was also a recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live. |
|
|---|---|---|
| 2. |  |
The Common Palm Civet, also known as a Musang or Toddy Cat , has the scientific name of Paradoxurus hermaphroditus. Both sexes have well-developed anal scent glands looking somewhat like testes, which gives the musang its species name. They are very fond of coffee cherries. They eat the outer fruit and the coffee beans pass through their digestive tract. An expensive coffee called kopi luwak is supposedly made from these coffee beans (eww!). Kopi luwak is said to have a gamy flavor and sells for more than $100 per pound. They are found in South and East Asia. |
| 3. |
|
Genesis was a British progressive rock band of worldwide popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. Founded in the 1960s in Surrey, England, the band quickly gained regional success. Under the leadership of drummer Phil Collins and singer Peter Gabriel, Genesis quickly captivated audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, and catapulted Collins and Gabriel to successful solo careers. On their 1971 album Nursery Crymes, there was song titled "The Fountain of Salmacis". The opening lines describe Hermaphroditus' time spent with the nymphs on Mount Ida. The fountain refers to the pool in which Hermaphroditus swam, the Naiad queen Salmacis' attempt to seduce him and his resistance to their union. With lines such as "Away from me cold blooded woman, your thirst is not mine", it is clear that the song is a direct reference to the ancient myth.
Click here to go to www.mp3.com and download The Fountain of Salmacis |
| 4. |
|
This aquatic animal, Salmacis belli, is a sea urchin "with uniformly distributed spines". It lives near coastal areas, usually in bays or lagoons. Relatively little is known of this animal, other than it is slightly distinguishable from it's close relatives Pseudoboletia Indiana and P. Maculata. The reason this organism is connected and named after the mythological figure Salmacis is it's pattern of habitation. The organism has a tendency to attach itself to other living things such as sea grasses, or dead plant matter known as detritus, reminiscent of it's mythological forebearer's affinity for Hermaphroditus. |
5. |
 |
The poem Hermaphroditus and Salmacis retells the famous myth. It belongs to the Elizabethean class of poetry that, for the majority, deals with the stories from Ovid's Metamorpheses. The poem was published in 1602. Although there is no mention of an author, it is widely believed to have been written by Francis Beaumont. |
| 6. |
|
Paulus Moreelse, 1571 – 1638
This painting by Paulus Moreelse shows the Hermaphroditus and Salamacis myth in a painting behind the girl with the mirror. It symbolizes "the kind of erotic pagan myth that discerning European patrons had enjoyed since the 15th century". Along with other symbols such as the girl's voluptuousness, her mirror (vanity) and the open book lying before her which when translated reads, "‘the desire of the flesh does not live for itself but for Venus", the Hermaphroditus image shows the underpinnings of sexuality present in Victorian society.
|
| 7. |  |
This booklength poem, written by Julia Older in 2000, focuses on Hermaphroditus' two halves, Herman and Hermione, when they are forced to seperate. Herman goes to corporate America while Hermione becomes a reporter interviewing the homeless. Eventually, they are reunited by the "physical and metaphysical trials they endure" in a joyous grand finale. |
