Friday, March 23, 2007

Images from the story of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus



This story of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus is one of an ignorant boy scared of love. His temptress is a bit too much for him and although the boys believes he is alone Salmacis spies on him bathing. The way the boy is described is sensual and is a great image of a virgin boy not yet exposed to the tragedy that is life.

I chose this image that is found in book IV in Ovid's Metamorphses.
This image struck me because Salmacis cannot resist this boy she has been spying on. She tells him that he will be hers whether he likes it or not. Then she cries to the gods and they answer her plea by binding the two together so one cannot tell if the figure is male of female.

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