From The Archives 16: Hermaphroditus & Attis

Gender identity is complicated, and someone's gender might be different than you'd first guess! But if you're new to these ideas, here's a definition courtesy of GLAAD:

Transgender (Adjective): An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. People under the transgender umbrella may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms - including transgender. Many transgender people are prescribed hormones by their doctors to bring their bodies into alignment with their gender identity. Some undergo surgery as well. But not all transgender people can or will take those steps, and a transgender identity is not dependent upon physical appearance or medical procedures.

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March 2018

Gender transformations and identity debates are not new to the modern era. The substantial number of stories showcasing these issues proves their relevance as far back as Ancient Greece and Rome. Ovid and Catullus are examples of authors writing about gender changes in ancient times. While both Ovid’s story of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus and Catullus’s Poem 63 portray gender as changeable and fluid, the two narratives differ on the “result” one obtains after a gender transformation journey. While Catullus’s Attis speaks of his identity on both sides of the gender binary and with mixed pronouns, Hermaphroditus and Salmacis use male pronouns and identify themselves as “half a man.” Ovid and Catullus prove that gender identity and bodily structure do not enforce the other no matter the reason for the initial change, but appear to show that conflicts occur more in situations that leave behind the narrative of the traditional gender roles of male.

            Each transformation focuses on a male character and an active female initiator. Despite Ovid’s title being “The Story of Salmacis,” the story’s conclusion is of Hermaphroditus’s transformation into “half a man.” (Metamorphoses 93) Attis, who is introduced, originally as male, once castrated, switches back and forth between being man and woman. This can be seen by the varied use of male and female references for Attis throughout the poem. The poem ends with female pronouns being the last used, but since Attis is a gallus, the identity he inherits from castrating himself for Cybele is one of which gender is fluid and undetermined. For Hermaphroditus, male pronouns are used throughout even though his body has been merged with a female nymph, creating a body that is “no longer man and woman, but neither, and yet both.” (Metamorphoses 93). 

            It is curious that with Hermaphroditus, the gender binary is directly told to be inaccurate and yet male pronouns are used continuously. While technically Hermaphroditus and Salmacis are two beings in one body, it appears as if Hermaphroditus is the one in control after the transformation, which is less surprising considering the relationship of power between gender roles of Ovid’s era, but does not fit as well with the power balance apparent throughout the rest of the story. It is Salmacis’s fountain that he comes up upon when traveling the wilderness as a youth, and it is Salmacis that strongly wants him, grabs him when he enters the pool even when he asked her not to, and prays to the gods that they will never be separated. She asks originally for a kiss, which he refuses, but she disrespects his clear boundaries and secretly watches him before forcing herself on him in a violent sequent of actions leading to his unconsented transformation. (Metamorphoses 92) 

So although Salmacis had the active power, pronouns were chosen according to Hermaphroditus’s original pronoun preference. The woman has power except in name, proven doubly over by the disappearance of the usage of Salmacis’s name after the transformation. The text refers only to Hermaphroditus’s thoughts and confusions and so the phrase “half a man” is used even though it had just been mentioned that they were both and neither, which is different than being half and half. Being both and neither validates their transformation as a different gender whereas referring to halves places the gender change into a context that can only exist within the preexisting concepts of either male or female.

The goddess Cybele is a strong female character as well, and Attis’s transformation was influenced by the tradition of Cybele’s priests, but he was the one who enacted the castration and took the initiation for priesthood. (Catullus 63 line 5-9) The question of choice for Attis is closely tied to Cybele’s power of madness over his free will. The poem begins by saying that he was “excited in a fantastic rage” and then ends with a request to “stay away from my home…and move others to rage with your fury.” (Catullus 63 lines 4, 92-93) It is obvious that she has a power and influence over him that does not require close proximity, but is also not so overly encompassing that he is never able to think critically about his situation. That he says, “what did I do? Because right now I regret it.” shows that some level of free will was taken away from him by the madness she imposed on him. Despite their free will being taken over through a more cognitive context, Attis is slightly more accepting of their resulting change because both pronouns are actively recognized and while Attis may not be happy about their confusion, they do debate what it means for them to not be the same as they had been, which is a higher level of acceptance than solely bemoaning the loss of half of one’s identity. Even though they say they regret it, they interact with the variations of their new identity rather than cursing the area around them as “contaminated.” (Metamorphoses 93) 

Salmacis was also described as being so overcome with lust towards Hermaphroditus that she was “mad to hold him” (Metamorphoses 92). Whereas Cybele’s is an intentionally imposed madness to call people towards her, Salmacis’s form of madness is not as celestial as Cybele since she is only a water nymph of a fountain and not a goddess with priests and worshippers. The idea of female madness that appears in both stories creates a negative conception towards gender transformations, especially ones that transform someone out of a traditional male identity. Perhaps if the characters were being transformed into a male identity there would be less connotations of madness initiating the transformation as well as less conflicting and disgusted opinions of their bodies after the change.

            The dual narratives of complex gender transformations from male to the undefined both deal with outside female influence and madness but the differing interactions with the outside forces leads to varied levels of acceptance and confusion over their new identities. Because Attis was influenced on a celestial level, his questioning is on a deeper level, whereas Hermaphroditus because forced upon by a water nymph creates a slightly shallower interaction of his new meaning, while the outside forces appear to be choosing and defining his transformation for him. Neither transformations are positively viewed, but they both helpful in understanding the questions and opinions that those might have had given the context of non-binary gender within the ancient world.