In
Greek mythology, Siproites (/sɪprˈɔɪtɪs/,
sip-ROY-teez;
Greek: Σιπροίτης,
translit.Siproítēs), also romanized as Siproetes or Siproeta, is the name of a minor
Cretan hero, a hunter who saw the goddess
Artemis naked while she was bathing and was then transformed into a woman as punishment, paralleling the story of the hunter
Actaeon.[1][2]
Mythology
Siproites, while hunting, saw Artemis bathing naked; in response to the offence, the virgin goddess turned him into a woman.[3] The myth is only narrated in a single line of a total of twelve words in the original Greek:
The Cretan, Siproites, had also been turned into a woman for having seen Artemis bathing when out hunting.[4][5]
The full story of Siproites has been lost to time; the above passage is all that remains, as
Antoninus Liberalis alone preserves the tale in a brief and obscure reference,[6][7] and that within the context of an altogether different myth in which a Cretan woman named
Galatea lists various occasions of gods changing the sex of mortals while begging the goddess
Leto to change her daughter
Leucippus into a boy, fearing her husband
Lamprus's (who had been told that their child was a son) reaction should he find out the truth.[8][9]
Symbolism
This sex-change tale shares some similarities with the myth of the goddess
Athena blinding a man named
Tiresias for seeing her naked,[7] as well as the story of Actaeon, who saw Artemis naked and was transformed into a stag that was hunted down and devoured by his own hunting dogs; it has been noted that in comparison to Actaeon, Artemis was rather lenient toward Siproites for what was the same offence.[10] The sex-reversal story brings its hero Siproites into line with several other male hunters and soldiers who were emasculated by a goddess, both literally and metaphorically, such as
Attis and
Orion.[11]
In Greek mythology female-to-male transformation is treated as a positive outcome and solution to a problem, whereas the opposite situation where a man is transformed into a woman (which is the case for Siproites and Tiresias) is presented as a negative experience, synonymous with punishment.[12]