Paeon of Amathus was an early Hellenistic historian from

Amathus Amathus or Amathous ( grc, Ἀμαθοῦς) was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its impressive remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about west o ...

on the Island of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, mentioned in the writings of

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

and the lexicographer

Hesychius of Alexandria Hesychius of Alexandria ( grc, Ἡσύχιος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Hēsýchios ho Alexandreús, lit=Hesychios the Alexandrian) was a Greek grammarian who, probably in the 5th or 6th century AD,E. Dickey, Ancient Greek Scholarship (2007) ...

Theseus and Ariadne

recounts a story he attributes to Paeon concerning

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...

and

Ariadne Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for having ...

. Theseus and Ariadne were driven off course by a storm and onto the island of Cyprus. Theseus put Ariadne, who was pregnant and in great distress from the motion of the ship, ashore alone but was himself swept out to sea again. The Cyprian women cared for Ariadne, comforting her in her loneliness, giving letters to Ariadne, which they had written, saying the letters had come from Theseus. But Ariadne died in childbirth. When Theseus returned, greatly distraught, he gave the island money, asking them to make sacrifices to Ariadne, and had two small statuettes, one silver, one bronze, set up in her honor. According to Plutarch, Paeon says that at the sacrifices made in Ariadne's honor on the second day of the month Gorpiaes, a young man lies down and imitates the cries and gestures of a woman in the pains of labor and that they call the place where the sacrifices were held the grove of Ariadne Aphrodite.

Bearded Aphrodite

Paeon of Amathus, quoted by

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routledge ...

, who said that the Cypriot goddess could take the shape of a man.

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

describes the statue of Venus in Cyprus as being bearded and having male genitals, but clad in female dress and holding a scepter.

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

knew of the existence of this

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics i ...

deity called

Aphroditos Aphroditus or Aphroditos ( grc-gre, Ἀφρόδιτος, , ) was a male Aphrodite originating from Amathus on the island of Cyprus and celebrated in Athens. Aphroditus was portrayed as having a female shape and clothing like Aphrodite's but al ...

. Hesychius confirmed that Aphroditos was a

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

.Parpola
p. 278
Hil
p. 79
Ellis
p. 410
Harris
p. 360

Notes

References

* Ellis, Robinson, ''A Commentary on Catullus'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2007. . * Mitford, Terence Bruce, "The Cults of Roman Cyprus" in ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung, Volume 1'', Walter de Gruyter, 1972. . * Parpola, Simo, Robert M. Whiting, ''Sex and gender in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 47th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Helsinki, July 2–6, 2001, Part 1'', Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 2002. . * Plutarch. ''Plutarch's Lives. with an English Translation by. Bernadotte Perrin''. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1914 * Harris, J. Rendel, ''The Origin of the Cult of Aphrodite'', in ''Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Volume 3'', John Rylands Library, Henry Guppy, Manchester University Press, 1917. * Hill, Sir George Francis, ''A History of Cyprus, Volume 1'', University Press, 1952 {{authority control Hellenistic-era historians Ancient Cypriots Cypriot historians