For other uses of the name Iphis see Iphis.

Isis changing the sex of Iphis. Engraving by Bauer.

Iphis was a name attributed to three individuals:

Daughter of Ligdus

According to Greek mythology and the Roman poet Ovid, who wrote about transformations in his Metamorphoses, Iphis (or Iphys) was the daughter of Telethusa and Ligdus in Crete. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD was a Roman poet known to the English -speaking world as Ovid who wrote on many topics including The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a narrative poem Telethusa is the mother of Iphis in Greek Mythology. She raised her daughter as a boy to spare her husband Ligdus's wrath and Iphis was later transformed into a Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the Ligdus had already threatened to kill his pregnant wife's child if it wasn't a boy. Telethusa despairs, but is visited in the middle of the night by the Egyptian goddess Isis, attended by Anubis and Apis, who assures her that all will be well. Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife patron of nature and magic friend of slaves sinners Anubis is the Greek name for a Jackal -headed god associated with Mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. When Telethusa gives birth to Iphis, she conceals her daughter's sex from her husband and raises her daughter as a boy. Iphis falls in love with another girl, Ianthe. Ianthe ( English translation: "purple or violet flower" was a name attributed to three figures in Greek mythology. Iphis is deeply in love and prays to Juno to allow her to marry her beloved. Juno was the protector and special counselor of the Roman state When nothing happens, her mother Telethusa brings her to the temple of Isis and prays to the goddess to help her daughter. Isis responds by transforming Iphis into a man. The male Iphis marries Ianthe and the two live happily ever after. Their marriage is presided over by Juno, Venus, and Hymenaios, the god of marriage. Venus was a major Roman Goddess principally associated with Love, Beauty and fertility, the equivalent of the Greek goddess In Greek mythology, Hymenaios (also Hymenaeus, Hymenaues, or Hymen; Ancient Greek:) was a god of Marriage ceremonies ^[1]

Isis and Telethusa (work by Picart).

The 17th-century publisher Humphrey Moseley once claimed to possess a manuscript of a play based on the Iphis and Ianthe story, by William Shakespeare. Humphrey Moseley (died January 31, 1661) was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century William Shakespeare ( baptised Scholars have treated the claim with intense skepticism; the play has not survived.

Cypriot shepherd

Ovid also introduces us to another character from Greek mythology, also named Iphis, a Cypriot shepherd who loved a woman named Anaxarete. Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD was a Roman poet known to the English -speaking world as Ovid who wrote on many topics including Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía In Greek mythology, Anaxarete was a Cypriot maiden who refused the advances of a shepherd named Iphis. Anaxarete scorned him and Iphis killed himself in despair. Because Anaxarete was still unmoved, Aphrodite changed her to stone. ^[2]

Mistress

As written in Homer's The Iliad, Iphis was also a name given to the mistress of Patroclus, Achilles' companion-in-arms. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient In Greek mythology, as recorded in the Iliad by Homer, Patroclus, or Patroklos (Gr "Achilleus" redirects here For the emperor with this name see Achilleus (emperor.

Modern Literature

Ali Smith's 2007 novel Girl Meets Boy is based on Ovid's story.

References