„... i stała się mężczyzną”: metamorfoza płci w „Mirabiliach” Flegona z Tralleis

• Authors: Julia Doroszewska

Title variants

EN

“... and She became a Man”: Sexual Metamorphosis in Phlegon of Tralles’ “Mirabilia”

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

This paper is devoted to the motif of a spontaneous sex change which appears several times in Phlegon of Tralles’ Mirabilia. The reports quoted by the author concern mythical characters (Teiresias, Kainis), as well as historical (or allegedly historical) figures; all of the reports present a transformation of woman to man, with exception of the myth of Teiresias who underwent a reverse metamorphosis. Each account has been truncated by the author and limited to the mere episode of the sex change; none has been commented or explained. This indicates that the author tries to focus his readers’ attention only on the elements of the marvelous and supernatural in order to astonish them. This fact proves that Mirabilia which are a literary collection of oddities may be regarded as a part of a wider cultural phenomenon − the vogue for collections of various curiosities, so popular in Phlegon’s times.

Keywords

PL

Flegon z Tralleis; zmiana płci; hermafrodyci; osobliwości ludzkie

EN

Phlegon of Tralles; sex-changers; hermaphrodites; human oddities

• Publisher: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
• Journal: Prace Filologiczne. Literaturoznawstwo
• Year: 2013
• Issue: 3(6) cz.2
• Pages: 223-241

Dates

published

2019-10-01

Contributors

author

Julia Doroszewska

• Uniwersytet Warszawski