The Hero-Heroine as Image and Representation of the Androgyne

Abstract

Starting as a fabulous bisexual human being, the Androgyne was soon punished by the gods when trying to place itself above them. Plato describes the Androgyne as a perfect roundness: a single body having four arms, four legs and one head with two opposed faces. Because of its pride, the Androgyne was cut in the middle and the face was turned backwards. Considering this definition, the myth of the Androgyne was used by Plato to sustain his thesis upon love: the two halves left alone in the world are trying desperately to find each other in order to recreate the initial form. The same myth was also found in the early religions, reflecting the unity between the Earth and the Sky. This study follows the Plato’s tradition and identifies the modern Androgyne in different literary characters in few of the very well known literary masterpieces.

Keywords

• Androgyne
• hero-heroine
• Self
• other
• representation.