Sleeping Hermaphroditus: 19 centuries old and still cracking eggs

I think Sleeping Hermaphroditus is a statue that really leaves a mark in people's minds, the first time they see it! The Louvre allows people to walk around it, and most are really surprised to see that this very feminine body has a dick! This statue definitely cracked a lot of eggs, me included tbh! I'm so thrilled that this statue is as popular as it is, because it's absolutely a part of queer history imo.

This sculpture represents Hermaphroditus, son of Hermes and Aphrodite, having a nap on a comfy mattress. That mattress was actually the work of Bernini (a superstar when it comes to 17th century art!!), but the actual sculpture is actually one of many copies, this one dating from the 2nd century.

The story of Hermaphroditus is pretty sad, and like many stories from greek mythology,  involves rape (you can skip this paragraph if this is a touchy subject for you!): Hermaphroditus was basically minding his own business, having a dip in a lake, when the nymph Salmacis tried to rape him. He ran away, but she caught up to him and asked the gods to merge their bodies together, so that they would never be separated. And they agreed?? Fucked up. Understandably upset, Hermaphroditus asked his parents to curse that lake, so that any man bathing in it would also... Grow tits i guess? Basically there's a free estrogen lake in Greece. And that's also where the word "hermaphrodite" comes from, which is used to describe creatures with both kinds of reproductive organs (like snails!!).

So this sculpture is basically an intersex man (the term "hermaphrodite" is outdated when it comes to human beings, because it ended up being pretty reductive), but many trans people have been identifying with it, especially trans women! And despite the grim story around the myth, it warms my heart to see that this statue means so much to queer people! Speaking of, it was previously owned by a filthy rich gay cardinal who devoted an entire room of his villa to show this particular statue off! He's also the one who commissioned Bernini for the mattress.

I really love this sculpture, it's really delicate and well crafted and I could go on and on about it!! I actually have but my essay about it is in french and is yet to be graded... I hope I did well lol!! Anyway, everyone loves Sleeping Hermaphroditus. Even today, artists are making copies of it! I absolutely adore the pink copy and the black copy made by Barry X Ball.

The rest of my essay was about how it got to the Louvre, and it's pretty boring stuff so I won't get into it. Thank you for reading my rambles! It's really nice to feel passionate about the things I'm studying, even if it makes me looks like a nerd. I hope the formatting was okay! I might write about other stuff in the future too, if I come across anything interesting! :]