White marble, 1st cent. A.D.
Pompeii, House of D. Octavius Quartio
Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, inv. 3021

The figure possesses both male and female sexual characteristics, identifying it as Hermaphrodite. According to mythology, Hermaphrodite was a young man of great beauty, beloved by the nymph Salmacis. Rejected by him, she prayed the gods to join her forever with the body of her beloved, who was thus transformed into a new being of dual nature.