WEBVTT 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:37.039 Hello, everybody, and welcome to a special episode of Lambda, the LGBT and Antiquity Podcast, the show about all things LGBT in the ancient world. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:42.320 I'm your host, Dominica Raven, International Transgender Day of Visibility Special. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:48.320 Today is a very special episode of the show dedicated to instances of transgender visibility and antiquity. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:51.600 We are not going to go through a traditional Lambda deep dive. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:56.320 This is actually two smaller dives into myths where transgender folks are visible. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:04.959 For today, it's enough just to discuss this visibility, but either one of these stories would make an excellent standalone future episode. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:16.959 Dionysus, as when you feared the anger of your stepmother and grew yourself false limbs, pretending to be a blonde-haired maiden with a yellow sash around your dress. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:21.040 Later in life as well, you like soft dresses. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:25.840 Bacchus was raised as a girl, so Bacchus likes girly things throughout life. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:35.439 Dionysus is sometimes called androgeneos, literally man-woman, which can mean both effeminate male or mannish woman. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:44.879 Androgyny can be interpreted as a facet of the transformative powers of Dionysus, moving through not just clothing but gendered states. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:50.560 As a deity, Dionysus can appear in any shape, form, or guise. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:02:00.400 All throughout their adolescence, Dionysus was hidden from Hera, the evil stepmother who wants to punish her husband Zeus for all his extramarital affairs. 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:04.159 So Zeus hid his child with the help of Athena and Hermes. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:10.319 They whisked away the infant and tried numerous plans to make sure the child was fostered in a safe environment. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:20.800 Dionysus was raised by numerous surrogate mothers, including filial relationships like Dionysus' maternal aunt Aino and paternal grandmother Rea Kybele. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:31.039 They use numerous disguises and bodily shapes to distract Hera, but each time Hera uses her all-seeing eyes to learn the truth. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:36.400 Probably the most common form Dionysus takes during this period was that of a young maiden. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:44.319 Nonos of Panopoulos, who wrote in the 5th century AD, presents a whole scene describing Dionysus in this period of their youth. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:49.919 Dionysus plays the woman's part and took the shape of a girl or nymph. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:59.039 The scene explains that Dionysus is wearing a crocoplos, which is literally a saffron cloth, and often denotes a yellow veil. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:13.039 This word is basically only ever used when describing women's clothing, such as the light of dawn in the Iliad is described as the crocopeblos of dawn, or the clothing of nymphs in Hesiod. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:18.639 The saffron cloth covers the face and especially eyes of young women. 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:27.520 Additionally, Dionysus' juvenile body is controlled with feminine undergarments, including a maiden's girdle and a breast band. 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:38.080 Dionysus' voice is disguised even further by making womanly noises, and scent is managed with a sweet-smelling head veil. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:42.639 So Dionysus is masked from Hera in a way that will likely avoid her gaze. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:49.439 In antiquity, whether in the realms of mortal or immortal beings, young women were habitually ignored. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:59.840 They were often expected to be in certain female-only spaces and performing very specific female-only household and farmyard tasks. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:05.439 They were literally meant to be neither seen nor heard when men were around. 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:10.479 So a young woman could fundamentally be invisible to the wider public. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:19.600 So when Dionysus is disguised this way, it actually makes sense that just about everybody around was socialized to ignore them. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:26.959 However, Hera is the queen of the universe, which means her domain is all of the feminine stuff. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:32.639 So the disguises work for a while, but eventually Hera figures it out every time. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:36.560 Her all-seeing eye can penetrate disguise. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:41.759 I think this is a very potent idea when addressed from the transgender angle. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:52.560 We do see a trans girl being objectified by older cis women who lash out against the perceived attack on their own femininity the trans girl presents. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:05:03.040 These girls are not feminine enough for their standards, so older women have an obligation to protect the feminine domain from these interlopers. 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:11.439 Though many desire acceptance from others, that acceptance is often substituted for disgust and aggression. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:23.199 I think it's interesting that a trans woman might read the story of Dionysus' youth and see what they craved, being socialized correctly in their correct gender as youths. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:33.360 They see the story of a feminine figure, a rough, non-conforming, but undeniably feminine figure, who is affirmed throughout the story. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:37.360 But a trans man might read the story and see the exact opposite. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:42.560 We have a male figure who was gentle but wild male all along. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:50.720 They see the boy being feminized in youth only for that soft but undeniably masculine figure to emerge in adulthood. 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:57.920 Meanwhile, gender-fluid folks might read a figure acting masculine or feminine at different parts of the story. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.279 And what's important is that they're all right. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:10.800 Dionysus is a mysterious figure of ambiguous gender, but gendered fluctuation is a permanent part of Dionysus' life. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:21.279 Dionysus is shown fully comfortable in female clothing, lounging with nymphs, and in masculine clothing, partying at the symposium, depending upon the scene. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:26.480 Any attempt to categorize Dionysus as male or female is doomed. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:35.600 Gender is nothing but a temporary mask for Dionysus, so everybody can see themselves in Dionysus. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:37.199 Canaus. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:42.240 Canaus was a child of the Lapith King and was assigned female at birth. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:49.199 They were given all the usual feminine roles and courted by numerous suitors from throughout all of ancient Greece. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:56.399 But Canaus does not desire marriage or femininity at all, so they refused all human suitors. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:03.920 They took lonely walks on the beach, and generally were a bit of an outcast from Lapith's society. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:10.800 But then one day Poseidon, the king of the sea, approached and sexually assaulted Canaus. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:17.199 Once this violence was complete, Poseidon offered them any wish they desired as recompense. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:27.600 So Canaus requests to become a man, and the god complies, making them not only male, but a warrior whose body is impenetrable to steel. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:37.759 Cainius rejoiced in the gift as he went on his way, and Canaus spent many years in every manly pursuit, roaming the plains of Thessaly. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:42.879 Canius became the king of the Lapiths, a position he was now entitled to. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:48.480 In time a war broke out between the Lapiths and the Centaurs, called Centauromachi. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:55.519 This conflict began when the humans and centaur neighbors were invited to the marriage of Perithous and Ipodemea. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:02.480 After a bit of wine, the centaurs dragged the bride and the other women away from the feast, and the war was on. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:06.959 Cainius killed five centaurs in the opening attack alone. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:11.519 Then a centaur named Latrius challenges Canais for a duel. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:16.399 He shouts out an insult that pretty much all trans folks have heard. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:32.559 Then he sputters further insults, misgendering them and shouting that they should leave and go be spinning wool and other appropriate womanly activities. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:33.759 Not in war. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.600 All Latrius sees is the counterfeit form of a man. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:43.440 Showing grace and dignity against such an assault, Cainius does not reply or argue. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:48.320 He simply stands tall, readies his spear, and strikes Latrius. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:54.720 The wounded centaur tries to attack with his sword, but Canius slays that arrogant centaur. 00:08:54.960 --> 00:09:04.399 At this, another centaur named Monicus shouts, Our mighty hosts are defeated and defied by one who is hardly a man. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:13.679 Even after such an incredible show of prowess, Canaus is still being insulted for not being manly enough. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.759 The centaurs then rally and counterattack Canius again. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:22.799 This time they're able to neutralize Canius by burying him. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:29.519 They throw thousands of trees, great oaks from the mountains in a pile on the head of the hero. 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:34.240 The centaurs assumed they had killed the hero after suffocation. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:38.000 It seemed the fighter was overwhelmed and killed. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:49.759 Now the other Greek heroes were so outraged that so many centaurs had ganged up on just one hero, Canaus, that the humans counterattack again and routed the centaurs. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:55.759 But that's not the end of the story, because Canaus was never actually dead. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:07.039 The human army's seer named Mopsis actually saw a small bird with glorious golden wings arise from that rubble piled upon Canaus' body. 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:13.440 The famous seer and bird reader had never seen another bird like it in his entire life. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:21.440 This unique bird hovered over the battlefield and flew circles around the mountains, giving hope to the warriors below. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:26.639 Canius has been transformed again into a unique bird. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:29.759 Something crucial happens in this story. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:39.519 Prior to the first transformation from female to male, Canius is shown tormented by suitors and lonely as they walk on the beach alone. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:48.320 But after the transformation, Canius is affirmed and successful as a male in ways they could never have even imagined before. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:56.559 Once Canius is free, they excel in so many ways, earning a seat among the best warriors of their generation. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:59.840 This is a very common trend in trans lives. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:05.440 Once we're free and safe and able to be ourselves, we tend to flourish. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:09.759 As we become more confident in ourselves, we soar. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:15.440 So we can actually see the transgender people visible in both of these stories. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:22.799 Dionysus uses gender affirmation to become feminine, but is rejected aggressively by their stepmother Hera. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:28.000 This reflects a very difficult and real fact for many trans people. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:39.120 We often look to acceptance from older relatives during our confusing and frustrating adolescence, and yet what we actually receive is our first taste of trans misogyny. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:47.600 Canius also experienced that changing anatomy, then proving themselves as a man is just not enough. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:56.080 People still find reasons to misgender and attack you, regardless of how ridiculous the whole situation may appear from the outside. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:08.159 But both stories really showcase how both of these figures were able to thrive and live once the stress of gender conformity was taken away. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:12.480 What outsiders think has no bearing on this trajectory. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:21.919 Nonos constantly calls Dionysus the greatest child of Zeus, even Zeus's successor as celestial ruler. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:31.039 Dionysus uses gender in ways that help drive the plot forward, but never in ways that are bound to societal expectations. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:36.799 Canaus was never just a man, but the most powerful of all the lapis. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:42.240 Sometimes just being allowed to be yourself is enough to get you to thrive. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:58.080 Whatever is going on in your life, pause for a moment today and think about what it means to be trans, or what it means to support trans people, or just what it means to live in a world where trans people are visible. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:01.039 Have a good trans visibility day. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:55.679 The stories of Dionysus in hiding from Hera are found in books 8 through 10 of the Dionysia of Nonos of Panopolis. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:03.919 The specific part about Dionysus in disguise is drawn from Book 14, verses 143 through 186. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:10.639 This passage is actually during the catalogue of the Bacchants, which is a great listing of all the companions of Dionysus. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:20.080 During this description, a host of centaurs arrives, and the narrative voice recounts the story of Dionysus' feminine manifestation as a child. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:26.320 Nonos describes Dionysus in Krokopeplos in Book 14, verse 160. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:39.600 The references to Homer using the same word are drawn from the Iliad, Book 8, verse 1, and Book 19, verse 1, and the reference to Hesiod is in the Theogony, verse 273. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:44.960 Dionysus wearing a girdle is found in Book 14, verse 166. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:50.159 Dionysus wearing breastbands are from Book 14, verse 165. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:15:00.320 The female sounds are referenced in Book 14, verse 162, and the sweet smelling veil is from Book 14, verse 163. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:10.799 Whenever you study clothing in antiquity, it's particularly difficult because there's lots of words used to describe numerous articles of clothing that change over time. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:27.279 As such, there are unisex garments in one generation that by the next century are only acceptable for men or only for women, or sometimes would be acceptable for, say, a young woman, but not an older, more respectable married woman. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:42.799 In fact, many older scholars actually used this fact to make the argument that Dionysus is actually shown in a way that would have been acceptable for an archaic prince to be represented, but in later eras was counted feminine. 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:51.840 This is not accurate because Dionysus is shown violating gender boundaries throughout the early narratives, even if the clothing remains ambiguous. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:16:04.240 The book Greek and Roman Dress from A to Z by Cleland, Davies, and Lulin Jones, 2007, is an invaluable resource when studying clothing in the ancient world. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:20.879 The story of Canaus is also an extremely old piece of mythology, with the first calling out being in the Iliad, Book 1, verses 262 through 268, when old Grandpa Nestor is listing all the mighty warriors he has ever known in his entire lifetime. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:30.639 This version of the story, which we discussed here, is from the most famous version in Ovid's Metamorphosis, Book 12, verses 146 through 535. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:38.000 Again, old Grandpa Nestor recites other wild stories of heroics during the downtime between battles. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:46.639 The quoted passages are drawn from Ovid's Metamorphosis, translated by Brooks Moore, in 1922 by Cornhill Publishing. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:49.200 This translation is now in the public domain. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:54.799 The death of Canaus presented here is the best known version found in Ovid's Metamorphosis. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:17:17.119 This may be the same version of Canaus' death as was found in Apollonius of Rhodes's Argonautica, Book 1, verses 55 through 64, or in the Orphic Argonautica, verses 170 through 174, both of which take place in the catalogue of the Argonauts, and claim that while Canaus was driven beneath the earth, they were not killed. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:21.200 There is another more difficult and tragic version of Canaus' death. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:36.160 Verschil says in the Aeneid, Book 6, verses 448 through 449, that Canius is in the fields of mourning in the underworld, where they have been turned back by fate into her form of old. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:40.319 This version is particularly tragic from the trans perspective. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:44.079 I don't actually see a way to reconcile these two narratives. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:56.720 Canaus is either alive and enjoying heroic afterlife or heroic transformation or something like that, or else Canaus is in a tragic afterlife, pining away in the underworld. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:06.240 This would be an excellent subject for another day, but for today I really did want to focus on uplifting instances of transvisibility. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:10.079 That's all for this very special episode of Lambda. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.000 We'll see you again for our regularly scheduled programming next Monday. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:15.519 Hope to see you there.