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| LGBT themes in mythology |
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Greco-Roman mythology features male homosexuality in many of the constituent myths. In addition, there are instances of cross-dressing, androgyny, and other themes which are grouped under the acronym LGBTQ+.
These myths have been described as being crucially influential on Western LGBT literature, with the original myths being constantly re-published and re-written, and the relationships and characters serving as icons. [1] In comparison, lesbian relationships are rarely found in classical myths. [2]
Apollo, the god of sun and music, is considered the patron of same sex love, as he had many male lovers and was often invoked to bless homosexual unions. [3] He is also called "the champion of male love" by Andrew Callimach. [4] Other gods are sometimes considered patrons of homosexual love between males, such as the love goddess Aphrodite and gods in her retinue, such as the Erotes: Eros, Himeros and Pothos. [5] Eros is also part of a trinity of gods that played roles in homoerotic relationships, along with Heracles and Hermes, who bestowed qualities of beauty (and loyalty), strength, and eloquence, respectively, onto male lovers. [6] In the poetry of Sappho, Aphrodite is identified as the patron of lesbians. [7]
The gender-change theme also occurred in classical mythology. The reason for the transformation varies, as in the case of Siproites (Σιπροίτης), a hunter from Crete, who was transformed to a woman by Artemis after having seen the goddess bathing/nude. [66] [67]
There was also a motif of a woman needing to disguise herself as a male and later being transformed into a biological male by mysterious forces (mainly the gods). In the cases of Iphis and Leucippus, the woman's mother was pressured (by her husband) to bear a male child so the protagonist was forced to impersonate a male from birth. [68] Later in life, manhood was "granted" through the blessing of a deity (Juno/Hera in Iphis' case and Leto in Leucippus').
Caeneus and Mestra, each of whom was a mate of a god (Caeneus was a rape victim of Poseidon/Neptune and Mestra was a lover of the same god), were granted manhood by the said god. Mestra, however, had the ability to change her shape voluntarily, instead of staying in male form like Caeneus and other instances above.
Tiresias, on the other hand, became female because he struck a couple of copulating snakes, displeasing Hera, who punished him by transforming Tiresias into a woman. Later the sentence was remitted, due to either trampling on the mating snakes or avoiding them, and he became male again. In another version, Tiresias' sex-change was caused by an argument between Zeus and Hera, on which they debated whether a male or a female had greater pleasure in sex, so they transformed him into a female to experiment.
According to Leah DeVun, a "traditional Hippocratic / Galenic model of sexual difference – popularized by the late antique physician Galen and the ascendant theory for much of the Middle Ages – viewed sex as a spectrum that encompassed masculine men, feminine women, and many shades in between, including hermaphrodites, a perfect balance of male and female". [69] DeVun contrasts this with an Artistotelian view of intersex, which argued that "hermaphrodites were not an intermediate sex but a case of doubled or superfluous genitals", and this later influenced Aquinas. [69]
Hermaphroditus (also the namesake of the word hermaphrodite ), the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, is considered the god of hermaphrodites and intersex people. Hermaphroditus was depicted as a winged youth with both male and female features, that is, usually female thighs, breasts, and style of hair, and male genitalia.
Dionysus has been dubbed "a patron god of hermaphrodites and transvestites" by Roberto C. Ferrari in the 2002 Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture. [70] He is referred to as effeminate, which is sometimes linked to his being dressed in girl's clothes during his childhood. In Orphic Hymn 41, the goddess Mise is referred to as an aspect of Dionysus, who is described as "male and female" (ἄρσενα καὶ θῆλυν).
Apollo was another god with effeminate features. His cheeks and chin are said to be soft and tender. [71] [72] He was beardless and kept his hair long, giving him a feminine appearance. In one of his myths, he is mocked for draping himself in women's clothing, while his twin sister Artemis was made fun of for appearing manly and rough. [73]
In addition to Dionysus/Mise, several gods are referred to as "both male and female" or "both female and male" in the Orphic Hymns, including Selene, [74] Athena, [75] and Adonis. [76] In Cyprus and Athens, an aspect of Aphrodite with male genitals and in some cases a beard, called Aphroditos, was worshipped. Macrobius (c. 400s AD) wrote in his Saturnalia , at 3.8.2:
There's also a statue of Venus on Cyprus, that's bearded, shaped and dressed like a woman, with scepter and male genitals, and they conceive her as both male and female. Aristophanes calls her Aphroditus, and Laevius says: Worshipping, then, the nurturing god Venus, whether she is male or female, just as the Moon is a nurturing goddess. In his Atthis, Philochorus, too, states that she is the Moon and that men sacrifice to her in women's dress, women in men's, because she is held to be both male and female. [77]
Apollo is one of the Olympian deities in ancient Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more. One of the most important and complex of the Greek gods, he is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. He is considered to be the most beautiful god and is represented as the ideal of the kouros. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu.
Hades, in the ancient Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed joint rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident and wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard-dog of the underworld, standing at his side.
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Leto is a goddess and the mother of Apollo and Artemis. She is the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, and the sister of Asteria.
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone, also called Kore or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who would later also take her into marriage.
Rhea or Rheia is a mother goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Titan daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus, himself a son of Gaia. She is the older sister of Cronus, who was also her consort, and the mother of the five eldest Olympian gods and Hades, king of the underworld.
In Greek mythology and religion, Themis is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, law, and custom. She is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is associated with oracles and prophecies, including the Oracle of Delphi. Her symbol is the Scales of Justice.
In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus was a child of Aphrodite and Hermes. According to Ovid, he was born a remarkably beautiful boy whom the naiad Salmacis attempted to rape and prayed to be united with forever. A god, in answer to her prayer, merged their two forms into one and transformed him into a hermaphrodite, he being considered the origin of the name. His name is compounded of his parents' names, Hermes and Aphrodite. He was one of the Erotes.
The Minyades were three Orchomenian (Arcadian) princesses in Greek mythology. These sisters were protagonists of a myth about the perils of neglecting the worship of Dionysus.
In Greek mythology, Caeneus or Kaineus was a Lapith hero, ruler of Thessaly, and the father of the Argonaut Coronus. Caeneus was born a girl, Caenis, the daughter of Elatus, but after Poseidon had sex with Caenis, she was transformed by Poseidon into an invulnerable man. Caeneus participated in the Centauromachy, where he met his demise at the hands of the Centaurs by being pounded into the ground while still alive.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus. They were called Olympians because, according to tradition, they resided on Mount Olympus.
In Greek mythology, Leucippus is a name attributed to multiple characters:
In Greek mythology, Eros is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart is Cupid ('desire'). In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is described as one of the children of Aphrodite and Ares and, with some of his siblings, was one of the Erotes, a group of winged love gods.
In Greek mythology, Priapus is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism. He became a popular figure in Roman erotic art and Latin literature, and is the subject of the often humorously obscene collection of verse called the Priapeia.
LGBTQ themes in mythology occur in mythologies and religious narratives that include stories of romantic affection or sexuality between figures of the same sex or that feature divine actions that result in changes in gender. These myths are considered by some modern queer scholars to be forms of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) expression, and modern conceptions of sexuality and gender have been retroactively applied to them. Many mythologies ascribe homosexuality and gender fluidity in humans to the action of gods or of other supernatural interventions.
Polyphonte is a character in Greek mythology, transformed into a strix.
In Greek mythology, Leucippus was a young man of Phaistos, Crete. Leucippus was born to Lamprus, the son of Pandion, and Galatea, daughter of Eurytius the son of Sparton. He is notable for having undergone a magical gender transformation by the will of the goddess Leto. Due to his transition from female to male, Leucippus can be considered a transgender male figure in Greek mythology.
In Greek and Roman mythology, Iphis was a child of Telethusa and Ligdus in Crete, born female and raised as male, who was later transformed by the goddess Isis into a man.
In Greek mythology, Siproites, also romanized as Siproetes or Siproeta, is the name of a minor Cretan hero, a hunter who saw the goddess Artemis naked while she was bathing and was then transformed into a woman as punishment, paralleling the story of the hunter Actaeon.
In Greek mythology, Argus or Argos may refer to the following personages
In Greek mythology, Agrius or Agrios and Oreios, also Oreius, Orius or Oreus, were the twin sons of Polyphonte, daughter of Hipponous, and a bear as well as them being the great-grandsons of Ares.
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