Salmacis ( grc, Σαλμακίς) was an atypical

Naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who ...

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

. She rejected the ways of the virginal

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

in favour of

vanity Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic s ...

and

idleness Idleness is a lack of motion or energy. In describing a person, idle means the act of nothing or no work (for example: "John Smith is an idle person"). A person who spends his or her days doing nothing could be said to be "idly passing his or her ...

Mythology

Ovid's version

Salmacis' attempted rape of

Hermaphroditus In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus or Hermaphroditos (; grc, Ἑρμαφρόδιτος, Hermaphróditos, ) was a child of Aphrodite and Hermes. According to Ovid, he was born a remarkably handsome boy whom the naiad Salmacis attempted to rape an ...

is narrated in the fourth book of

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

'' (see also

Dercetis Dercetis is the name of a nymph in Greek mythology. Mythology In Statius' ''Thebaid'', she is portrayed as a sexually aggressive figure who ravishes a youth named Lapithaon despite his being too young and not mature enough for a sexual relatio ...

). One day Hermaphroditus went swimming in his pool. Upon seeing him, Salmacis was struck with love for him, approached him and confessed her love to him; but he was not interested, and demanded she leave. She did so, but her passion took her back, unable to stay away from him. As Hermaphroditus emerged from the pool, she threw herself at him, and forcibly kissed him as he tried to escape. Salmacis then cried to the gods and begged them to let them stay together forever; and the gods answered by fusing them together for all time, into a deity that had both male and female parts. She thus becomes one with Hermaphroditus and he curses the

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...

to have the same effect on every other person who would bathe there.

Other versions

In a description found on the remains of a wall in

Halicarnassus Halicarnassus (; grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός ''Halikarnāssós'' or ''Alikarnāssós''; tr, Halikarnas; Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located i ...

, Hermaphroditus' mother

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...

names Salmacis as the nymph who nursed and took care of an infant Hermaphroditus after his parents put him in her care, a very different version than the one presented by

Lucian Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore ...

Samosata Samsat ( ku, Samîsad), formerly Samosata ( grc, Σαμόσατα) is a small town in the Adıyaman Province of Turkey, situated on the upper Euphrates river. It is the seat of Samsat District.father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

Salmacis fountain

Salmacis was the name of a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

located in modern-day

Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient t ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. According to some classical authors, the water had the reputation of making men effeminate and soft. This legend lies at the heart of Ovid's tale of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus.

Ancient art

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

in Room 10 of the ''Casa della Venere in Conchiglia'' (House of Venus in the Shell) in

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

depicts Eros standing in between Hermaphroditus and Salmacis. The fresco is possibly the earliest (before 79 AD) and the only ancient artwork of the water nymph before her union with Hermaphroditus.

Post-Classical reception

Literature

Francis Beaumont Francis Beaumont ( ; 1584 – 6 March 1616) was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher. Beaumont's life Beaumont was the son of Sir Francis Beaumont of Grace Dieu, near Thrin ...

, a poet and playwright, wrote a poem ''Salmacis and Hermaphroditus'' based on Ovid's work. The poem was published anonymously in London in 1602.

Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

's 1863 poem "Hermaphroditus", based on the Bernini sculpture of the same name in the Louvre, makes mention of Salmacis in the final stanza. A novel of short stories by Italian writer

Mario Soldati Mario Soldati (17 November 1906 – 19 June 1999) was an cinema of Italy, Italian writer and film director. In 1954 he won the Strega Prize for ''Lettere da Capri.'' He directed several works adapted from novels, and worked with leading Ital ...

called ''Salmace'' (Salmacis), a title that spans the entire collection. In the story it tells of the transformation of a man into a woman, in a highly metaphorical context.

Sculpture

A sculpture by

François-Joseph Bosio François-Joseph is a given name, and may refer to: * François-Joseph Amon d'Aby (1913–2007), Ivoirian playwright and essayist * François-Joseph de Beaupoil de Sainte-Aulaire (1643-1742), French poet and army officer * François-Joseph Bélange ...

, ''La nymphe Salmacis'' from 1826, can be seen on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris. A sculpture by Sir

Thomas Brock Sir Thomas Brock (1 March 184722 August 1922) was an English sculptor and medallist, notable for the creation of several large public sculptures and monuments in Britain and abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His mo ...

of Salmacis (aka ''The Bather Surprised'') was designed in 1868. It was modelled and exhibited at the Royal Academy, London in 1869. A variety of porcelain replicas were made from 1875 and an example was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1878. The '' Fontana Greca'' ("Greek Fountain") is a fountain from the Renaissance period located in Gallipoli, southern Italy. The fountain has bas-reliefs depicting three metamorphoses in Greek mythology. The center bas-relief shows Eros flying beside Aphrodite, while Hermaphroditus and Salmacis are shown below laying together and embracing.

Painting

A painting of Salmacis in 1877 by French artist Charles Landelle was one of the most admired works at the Paris Exhibition according to

The Art Journal ''The Art Journal'' was the most important British 19th-century magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title ''Art Union Monthly Journal'' (or ''The Art Union''), the first issue of 7 ...

of 1878. The painting depicts a startled Salmacis seated among reeds, clutching her drapery to her chest in alarm.Salmacis: Landelle, Charles - The Art Journal (1878)
/ref>

Music

The British

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

wrote and performed a song entitled "Fountain of Salmacis" on their 1971 album ''

Nursery Cryme ''Nursery Cryme'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released in November 1971 on Charisma Records. It was their first to feature drummer/vocalist Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett. The album received a mixed respo ...

''. It is an epic 8 minute-long piece which tells the story of Salmacis' attempted rape of Hermaphroditus. At the end of the song, the lyrics state that Salmacis and Hermaphroditus were "joined as one" and forever live beneath the lake from which the fountain appears.

References

Bibliography

, ''

Dialogues of the Gods ''Dialogues of the Gods'' ( grc, Θεῶν Διάλογοι) are 25 miniature dialogues mocking the Homeric conception of the Greek gods written in the Attic Greek dialect by the Greek author Lucian of Samosata. There are 25 dialogues in total. T ...

''; translated by Fowler, H W and F G. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1905. *

. ''

, Volume I: Books 1-8''. Translated by Frank Justus Miller. Revised by G. P. Goold.

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and L ...

No. 42. Cambridge, Massachusetts:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

, 1977, first published 1916. .

External links

Salmacis: Naiad nymph of Halicarnassus in Caria - Theoi Project
* ttps://www.sdu.dk/en/om_sdu/institutter_centre/ih/forskning/forskningsprojekter/halikarnassos/sites_and_places/salmakis+fountain The Salmakis Fountain - University of Southern Denmark {{Authority control Greek goddesses Androgynous and hermaphroditic deities Metamorphoses into the opposite sex in Greek mythology Mythological rapists Naiads Metamorphoses characters Mythological Greek tutors of gods