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HERMAPHRODITE
In the Metamorphoses, Ovid tells that Hermaphrodite, a newborn, was suckled by the Naiads in the caves of Mount Ida, a sacred mountain, located in the region of Phrygia in Asia Minor.
At the age of fifteen he left his home to explore the world.
He traveled to the cities of Lycia, reaching as far as Caria.
Near Halicarnassus, in a grove, he is seen by the young nymph Salmace, who falls in love with him.
She tries to seduce him, but is rejected by him.
In a moment of intimacy, during which Hermaphrodite goes naked into the water to take a bath, Salmace sneaks up on him and when the young man starts to get wet in the lake, she jumps out and throws herself at him, wrapping themselves around him and touching and kissing him everywhere.
Hermaphrodite struggles, trying to free herself from the nymph, while she begs the gods to remain united forever with the beloved young man. Her wish is granted by the gods: their bodies are merged to form a single creature of both sexes, half male and half female.
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