Hermaphroditus

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Hermaphroditus ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἑρμαφρόδιτος, [hermapʰródi:tos]; sometimes conjugated with a feminine suffix as Hermaphrodite) is a child of Aphrodite and Hermes. Because Hermaphroditus was a child of Hermes, and consequently a great-grandchild of Atlas (Hermes' mother Maia was the daughter of Atlas), he is sometimes called Atlantiades (Greek: Ἀτλαντιάδης). He has an androgynous body similar to that of an intersex person, and he is a minor romance deity symbolizing intersexuality, androgyny, and marriage. Hermaphroditus is associated with the freshwater nymph Salmacis, who is represented variously as his nurse, wife, or attempted rapist. According to the Roman poet Ovid, he was born a remarkably beautiful endosex boy whom Salmacis attempted to rape and prayed to be united with forever. The mystical forces of the universe merged their two forms into one and transformed him into a being of two sexes—both male and female simultaneously—which reflects how intersex people were historically perceived.