Hermaphroditus

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Hermaphroditus

Hermaphroditus , in Greek mythology, beautiful son of Hermes and Aphrodite. He scorned the nymph Salmacis, who prayed that they might never be separated. When Hermaphroditus swam in her stream, she combined with him, uniting male and female characteristics in one body—hence the origin of the word hermaphrodite.

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Hermaphroditus

In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes, messenger of the gods, and Aphrodite, goddess of love. The boy was so beautiful that a nymph named Salmacis fell in love with him and prayed that they would be united forever. The gods granted her the wish one day when Hermaphroditus came to the fountain where she lived. As he was bathing, Salmacis embraced him and pulled him underneath the water, and their bodies merged into one. The result was a person with the figure and breasts of a woman but with the sex organs of a man.

nymph minor goddess of nature, usually represented as young and beautiful

Other versions of the story claim that any man who bathed in the fountain was transformed into a half man, half woman just like Hermaphroditus. It was also said that the waters of the fountain caused anyone who drank from it to grow weak. The original story appears in the Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid*. The English writer Edmund Spenser includes the notion of such a pool, which weakened those who drank from it, in the Faerie Queene.

See also Greek Mythology; Nymphs.

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"Hermaphroditus." Myths and Legends of the World. Macmillan Reference, USA. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Hermaphrodite

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Â© The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Hermaphrodite in Greek mythology, a son of Hermes and Aphrodite, with whom the nymph Salmacis fell in love and prayed to be forever united. As a result Hermaphroditus and Salmacis became joined in a single body which retained characteristics of both sexes.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Hermaphrodite." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Hermaphrodite." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (November 16, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Hermaphrodite.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Hermaphrodite." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved November 16, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Hermaphrodite.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Swimming with translators.(Critical essay) Magazine article from: Harvard Review; 6/1/2007
	El cafe mas caro del mundo.(Articulo breve) Magazine article from: Contenido; 10/1/2002
	Joseph Nechvatal at Universal Concepts Unlimited. (New York).("vOluptuary: an algorithmic hermaphomology") Magazine article from: Art in America; 3/1/2003

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