Teach with Collections: Statuette of Hermaphrodite

In classical mythology, the nymph Salmacis loved Hermaphroditos, son of Hermes and Aphrodite. When he bathed in her spring, Salmacis embraced him and prayed that they would never be parted. The gods granted her wish, and the two became a single divine being with both male and female characteristics, most commonly referred to as Hermaphrodite. In this statuette, said to have been found on Rhodes, the god is naked except for a mantle that falls below the male genitals, the latter in counterpoint to the girlish face and the feminine modeling of the body. Leaning against a pillar, she apparently once held a wine jug in her right hand and an offering dish in her left. The figure's lithe form and sweet sensuality are characteristic of the so-called Rococo phase of the Late Hellenistic period. Another, larger example of this type was found at Pergamon, in western Turkey, a cosmopolitan center whose Attalid rulers fostered the cults of a variety of gods. Such sculptures were not salacious curiosities but objects of sincere devotion, representing the dichotomy of human nature and the yearning for unity in the face of desire.

Conversation prompts

How did the sculptor combine male and female attributes in this statuette? Do you see one gender dominating over the other?

How would you describe the figure's drapery?