Hermaphroditus

Hermaphroditus
Member of the Erotes
Herculaneum fresco 1–50 AD, National Archaeological Museum, Naples.
Abode	Mount Ida
Parents	Hermes and Aphrodite
Consort	Silenus
Equivalents
Roman equivalent	Atlantius

In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus (/hərˌmæfrəˈdaɪtəs/ ^ⓘ; Ancient Greek: Ἑρμαφρόδιτος, romanized: Hermaphróditos, [hermapʰróditos]) 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.^[a] His name is compounded of his parents' names, Hermes and Aphrodite.^[1] He was one of the Erotes.

Because Hermaphroditus was a child of Hermes, and consequently a great-grandchild of Atlas (Hermes's mother Maia was the daughter of Atlas), sometimes he is called Atlantiades (Greek: Ἀτλαντιάδης).^[2]

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