In Greek mythology, Siproites ( ; ), 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. Siproites' very brief story only survives in the works of Antoninus Liberalis; if any larger narrative concerning him existed, it has been lost.
Etymology The origin of Siproites' name is hard to pin down. Carnoy suggested a derivation from the word meaning "ugly, coarse" but this etymology is rather unlikely. Höfer meanwhile proposed that the si- syllable is a dialectal form for , "god". Carnoy taking this further alternatively suggested "he who advances towards the gods".
Mythology The Cretan Siproites, while hunting, saw Artemis bathing naked; in response to the offence, the virgin goddess turned him into a woman. The myth is only narrated in a single line of a total of twelve words in the original Greek:
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, 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.
Symbolism This sex-change tale shares some similarities with the myth of the goddess Athena blinding a man named Tiresias for seeing her naked, 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. 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.
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.
See also
Other people who had their sex changed by the gods include:
Caeneus Leucippus Iphis Tiresias Calydon, who was petrified for seeing Artemis naked
Notes
References Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis, translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at topos text.