Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Natus Diformis: Hermaphrodites In Greek And Roman Art, Aileen Ajootian
Natus Diformis: Hermaphrodites In Greek And Roman Art, Aileen Ajootian
Bryn Mawr College Dissertations and Theses
Hermaphroditos, the personage in Greek and Roman myth and iconography possessing both male and female sexual features, first appears in Greek literary and epigraphical sources in the fourth century B.C., although a pedigree as the offspring of Hermes is not provided before the mid-first century D.C. In addition to the proper name Hermaphroditos, the term used generically, along with its adjectival form describes these Mischwesen as they are reported by various ancient authors to occur in nature. But from the inscriptions, literary testimonia, and artifacts, it appears that the Greeks and Romans considered Hermaphroditos a divinity with a variety of …