"Hermaphrodite endormi (asleep) (Klinefleter Syndrome?) - found near the Diocletian Therme (Terme or Baths)." (see details A | B), II BC Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Many similar Roman copies exist. This particular copy was "acquired" by Napoleon from the Borghese Collection for the "Napoleon Museum" that became "The Louvre". In the opinion of this viewer, socially, this individual was cast as a female. Today such individuals are more likely to be cast as males. "Herm-aphordite" is perhaps an acerbic reminder left us by ancient poets who, like Lucretius, viewed life as a continuum. The story that the affair of Hermes with Aphrodite produced a "herm-aphrodite" is consonant with his characater as a champion of the ambiguities who relied on "double" talk or duplicitous diplomatic language to deliver messages from Zeus.

From a medical point of view, the fate of a mortal child of ambigous gender seems harsher today that in the world of poets like Lucretious. Now the views of "intersex" are permeated by persisting primitive dogmatic beliefs rooted in Biblical ideas of sin. Seen here and in companion images are "fem"inine hips, bottocks, "fem"ur or thighs, a rather pre-puberal phalus (falus) or penis (pene, penetrate) and "gyneco"mastia (feminine mastos or breasts) are evident from other angles of view. Such cluster of signs or syndrome suggest with good probablility that this individual has Klinefelter Syndrome (KS) and an XXY sex chromosome complement. Since KS is not rare (about 1 in 700 males may be affected in somform), it is not surprising that KS did not escape the attention of ancient sculptors - many other statues of this sort are extant today (see related images). Therefore, any boy with delayed puberty, persisting gynecomastia or a man concerned with infertility will benefit from early diagnosis and therapies. The tendency to focus most attention on female members of infertile couples is wrong, since quite often the causes are chromosomal constitutional anomalies of the male.