Part of the vast Greek mythology, to which Indian mythology has connectivity, relates to inter-sexed humans. In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus was the two-sexed son of Aphrodite (Venus) and Hermes (Mercury). S/he has long been a symbol of bisexuality or effeminacy, who featured in the folklore and art of the Greek and Roman empires as a female figure with male genitals.
As is usually the case with myths, there are as many accounts as there are variations. The cult of Hermaphroditus stemmed from eastern religions, where the hermaphrodite structure expressed the idea of a primitive being that united both genders, being endowed with genitals of both sexes.
The reason for this elaborate mythology may rest only on one simple premise: man's search, about 5,000 years ago, for the meaning and origin of life, especially his, being anthrocentric, which also led him to the search for a complete form. That is how the Ardhanareeshwara notion could have been conjured up, denoting union of male and female forms in one being.
2 comments:
2 ngCmvery interesting perspective sir.
Bhai,
Among inanimate objects, perhaps, nothing illustrates duality in your point more accurately than a humble tea pot; spout being male and lid with knob being the female parts of two anatomies.
About the picture; the neon blue slightly rimming out is quite catching.
charu
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