Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 77

Hermaphroditus

In ancient Greek religion, Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.  According to Ovid, he came upon the nymph Salmacis in her pool.  She was overcome with lust for him.  He rejected her, but she forced herself upon him (above, in a painting by Jean Francois de Troy, 1729), and she prayed to the gods to be united with him forever.  The gods answered her prayer and merged the two of them into one body.  After that, Hermaphroditus was both male and female.

Above is the sculpture called the Borghese Hermaphroditus in the Louvre.  It is a 2nd century Roman copy of a 2nd century BC Greek sculpture.  In addition, the mattress was carved by Bernini in 1620 specifically as a mattress for this sculpture to lie on.

From this angle, it looks like a sleeping woman, but ...

from the other side, she has a penis and balls in addition to her breasts.  She is both male and female.

Another Roman statue of Hermaphroditus c. 70-100 AD.  Breasts: check.  Dick and balls: check.

This statue of Hermaphroditus was found in the house of Loreius Tiburtinus in Pompeii.  Pompeii is the Roman city destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.  This statue has prominent breasts but clearly also has a penis.

This 3rd century Roman statue goes even further on the male side.  It's also in the Louvre.  We all knew that the Louvre contains great art, like the Mona Lisa, but who knew it has these other interesting artworks?

We end with a modern depiction of Hermaphroditus by Will Mitchell.  I have to say, it certainly looks male, but aside from the hair, it doesn't look very female.