The Marriage Maker: The Pergamon Hermaphrodite as the God Hermaphroditos, Divine Ideal and Erotic Object

Abstract

The Pergamon Hermaphrodite depicts the god Hermaphroditos, an image that stands for the idea of marriage, fertility, heterosexual union, and civilization. Textual evidence in the form of the recently uncovered Salmacis Inscription, and an extensive iconography of 175 images corroborate this identity. The Pergamon Hermaphrodite is a document of a Hellenistic religious attitude, which forms part of the large artistic programme of The Great Altar at Pergamon. The Hellenistic World gives rise to a change in form expressed by the eroticised aesthetics of the divine cult statue, emphasizing the feminine shape due to the prominence of heterosexual marriage and increased participation of women in society. The Pergamon Hermaphrodite combines this with a pederastic eroticism and static calm, keeping one foot in the Classical past.