Abstract

The myths which seek to assert the idea of completeness per medium of the creature of dual sex are legion. The androgyne of Plato, the Tiresias of the fable, through their double sexuality and their ability to meld in one body both animus and anima, the genius of man and the genius of woman, affirm the idea of ontological perfection. But, consubstantial with their radiant power is the terror that they generate. For they unsettle even the gods. Symbol of the creative harmony and beauty of the universe, the androgyne is nonetheless the harbinger of catastrophe. Its perfection is an anomaly. Its beauty a provocation. Its intelligence an insult. For the androgyne is the copy of God, the extremity of a hand that shapes, capable of what God is able.