Siproites

In Greek mythology, Siproites (/sɪprˈɔɪtɪs/, sip-ROY-teez; Ancient Greek: Σιπροίτης, romanized: 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]^[4] The myth is only narrated in a single line of a total of twelve words in the original Greek:

μεταβαλεῖν δὲ καὶ τὸν Κρῆτα Σιπροίτην,
ὅτι κυνηγετῶν λουομένην εἶδε τὴν Ἄρτεμιν.

The Cretan, Siproites, had also been turned into a woman
for having seen Artemis bathing when out hunting.

—Antoninus Liberalis, 17

—Francis Celoria^[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.^[5]^[8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

In Greek mythology female-to-male transformation is treated as a positive outcome and a 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 distress and punishment.^[11]