41 to get a closer look” Eugenides 490. Calliope lower her body to the pool slowly
inch by inch and some costumer begin to watch from peepholes. “The water nymph tried to control herself. But the boy’s beauty was too much
for her. Looking was not enough. Salmacis swam nearer and nearer. And then, overpowered by desire, she caught the boy from behind, wrapping her arms
around him” Eugenides 490 Calliope starts kicking her legs and churning up the water to make costumers hard to
see. The master of ceremony continues. “Hermaphroditus struggled to free himself from the tenacious grip of the
water nymph, ladies and gentlemen. But Salmacis was too strong. So unbridled was her lust that the two became one. Their bodies fused, male into
female, female into male. Behold the god Hermaphroditus”490-491 That is the time when Calliope is fully exposed and swims in the pool.
In addition, Jeffrey Eugenides when he is in the Oprah ’s show also explains
briefly about the story of Hermaphroditus based on his point of view. The story of Hermaphroditus, the beautiful son of Hermes and Aphrodite, is
one I retell, in modern guise, in two different sections of the book. The nymph Salmacis fell in love with Hermaphroditus when he took a swim in her
designated pool one day. He rebuffed her advances, but she clung to him, pleading with the gods to keep the two of them from ever parting. Her prayers
were answered. Hermaphroditus and Salmacis were physically fused into one being. QA With Jeffery Eugenides.
b. The Pool of Change
Based on Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus curses the pool where he is being raped so anyone who bathes in the pool will be transformed as well. In the
story, the main character becomes the god of Hermaphroditus in 69ers club. She swims and dives into the pool and she comes up in another form just like swimming
42 in the pool that is cursed by Hermaphroditus. The pool which is mentioned in
Hermaphroditus story represents the beginning of intersex person and also sexual transformation. The pool in Calliope’s story symbolizes her transformation from a
woman to a man or as she confesses about the pool …. “a swimming pool turned me into myth; I’ve left my body in order to occupy others—and all this happened before
I turned sixteen” Eugenides 3.
c. The Main Character Calls Herself Hermaphrodite
Hermaproditus story as a hermaphroditic figure is well-known, even the term hermaphrodite is taken from his name. Hermaphrodite is a term used in biology to
call an animal or flower that has both male and female reproductive organs. The term hermaphrodite is also used to call a person who has both male and female sexual
characteristic and genital issues. In fact, Calliope also calls herself hermaphrodite in “When this story goes out into the world, I may become the most famous
hermaphrodite in history” Eugenides 19. The application of the term hermaphrodite itself has a special concern for the author because it is a sensitive term which is
noticed as pejorative term. When speaking about living people, I try to use the word intersex. But when
speaking about Greek mythology and literary characters like Tiresias, I reserve the right to use the normative, historical term: hermaphrodite. The
word comes to us from the myth of Hermaphroditus, after all, and who am I to throw out the Greek myths? A Conversation With Jeffrey Eugenides
Calliope in the novel also tries to define herself based on Webster’s dictionary in New York Public Library. From the conversation of the doctors who examine her,
43 she keeps in mind the word “hyspopadias” which drives Calliope attention to its
synonym called “eunuch”. The word eunuch itself is synonymous with the word hermaphrodite which makes her terribly shocked.
Following where the trail led, I finally reached hermaphrodite
—1.One having the sex organs and many of the secondary sex characteristics of both male and female.2.Anything comprised of a
combination of diverse or contradictory elements. See synonyms at monster. Eugenides 430
4. Minotaur
