HermaphroditeInOld GreekHermaproditus is a character of theGreek mythologyHe was son ofAfroditaand ofHermesIn honor of whom he received his name, a mix of his parents. But Aphrodite, feeling guilty of adultery, separated from her son and left him in theIthaca Mountain(Frigia) under the care of theNymphsFrom the mountain, for those who raised him.
As time passed, the child became a young man of great beauty. One fine day, Hermaphroditus decided to go out and explore Greek lands. On his way to Caria, inHalicarnasoThe excessive heat of that sunny day made him approach a lake to cool off, and he jumped into the water naked. TheNereid Salmacis —o Salmacide—, spirit of that lake, upon noting his presence and observing his naked body, felt an immediate attraction towards him and did not delay in undressing and approaching him to try to conquer him, but the young man resisted. Yet, the nymph did not cease in her endeavor and, little later, from the nearby fountain to which Hermafrodito had approached, Salmacis embraced him strongly, dragged him down to the bottom and, while struggling with him, implored the gods that they not separate their bodies, saying: “You struggle in vain, cruel man! Gods! Make it so that nothing can ever separate me from him or him from me”. The gods, attending her supplication, granted her desire and both bodies fused forever into a single being of double sex. Hermafrodito implored his parents, the gods, that any young man who bathed in that lake would run the same fate. In this way, the lake would take away the virility from all who bathed in it, just as the gods had granted.
As time passed, the child became a young man of great beauty. One fine day, Hermaphroditus decided to go out and explore Greek lands. On his way to Caria, inHalicarnasoThe excessive heat of that sunny day made him approach a lake to cool off, and he jumped into the water naked. TheNereid Salmacis —o Salmacide—, spirit of that lake, upon noting his presence and observing his naked body, felt an immediate attraction towards him and did not delay in undressing and approaching him to try to conquer him, but the young man resisted. Yet, the nymph did not cease in her endeavor and, little later, from the nearby fountain to which Hermafrodito had approached, Salmacis embraced him strongly, dragged him down to the bottom and, while struggling with him, implored the gods that they not separate their bodies, saying: “You struggle in vain, cruel man! Gods! Make it so that nothing can ever separate me from him or him from me”. The gods, attending her supplication, granted her desire and both bodies fused forever into a single being of double sex. Hermafrodito implored his parents, the gods, that any young man who bathed in that lake would run the same fate. In this way, the lake would take away the virility from all who bathed in it, just as the gods had granted.
2 comentários - "Hermafrodito"