Hermaphroditus
Son of Hermes and Aphrodite who was fused with the nymph Salmacis into a single being of both sexes.
The Myth of Hermaphroditus
A nymph loved him so much she prayed to be merged with him forever — the gods granted it, and he became both male and female. Hermaphroditus, beautiful son of Hermes and Aphrodite, bathed in the spring of Salmacis in Caria. The nymph Salmacis, desperate with desire, seized him and prayed that they would never be separated. The gods merged their bodies into one being of both sexes. Horrified, Hermaphroditus cursed the spring so that any man who bathed in it would become effeminate. Ovid tells this in the Metamorphoses as both love story and horror story — the boundary between devotion and violation collapses. The myth gave us the word hermaphrodite.
Parents
Hermes, Aphrodite
Symbols
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Salmacis
🌿 nymphdesire
Water nymph of Caria whose desperate embrace of Hermaphroditus caused the gods to fuse them into a single dual-sexed being.
Arethusa
🌿 nymphNymph who became a freshwater spring
Arethusa was a nymph of Artemis who was pursued by the river god Alpheus and transformed into a freshwater spring on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse.
Clytie
🌿 nymphtransformation
Ocean nymph who loved Helios so desperately that she sat watching him cross the sky until she transformed into a heliotrope flower.
Castalia
🌿 nymphprophecy, springs
A nymph who was transformed into a spring at Delphi, whose waters inspired prophetic visions.
Callisto
🌿 nymphNymph transformed into the Great Bear
Callisto was a companion of Artemis who was seduced by Zeus and transformed into a bear — placed in the sky as Ursa Major, the Great Bear constellation.
Clytia
🌿 nymphFame, sunlight
Oceanid nymph who pined for Helios and was transformed into the heliotrope flower
Cyane
🌿 nymphsprings, grief
A Sicilian water nymph who tried to stop Hades from abducting Persephone and dissolved into her own spring from grief.
Chloris
🌿 nymphGoddess of flowers, wife of Zephyrus
Chloris was a nymph whom Zephyrus (the west wind) abducted and married, making her the goddess of flowers — the Romans called her Flora.
Scylla
🌿 nymphBeautiful nymph transformed into a monster
Scylla was originally a beautiful sea nymph who was transformed into a six-headed monster by the jealous Circe or Amphitrite.
Lotis
🌿 nymphtrees, escape
A nymph who fled the god Priapus and was transformed into the lotus tree to escape his assault.
Scylla
🐉 creaturetransformation
Beautiful nymph transformed into a six-headed sea monster by Circe's poison, eternally lurking in a strait opposite Charybdis.
Galatea
🌿 nymphSea nymph loved by a Cyclops
Galatea was a Nereid loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus — but she loved the mortal Acis.