Good Try, but
The Next Question
belongs to Trim.


For the curious:
The Third Sex is the Hermaphrodite.

In Plato's Symposium he tells the story of Hermaphroditus, who combined the beauty of his divine parents, Hermes and Aphrodite. Hermaphroditus was loved by the nymph Salmacis, who lived in the fountain where he bathed. She embraced him and prayed their bodies would be fused together. Her wish was granted, the two became a single being in which both sexes were combined.

Aristophanes relates a slightly different version:
In the beginning there existed not two sexes as you see now, but three. The third, which was both male and female, has vanished; only its name now remains - hermaphrodite, with characteristics of both.

Plato uses the dual sexuality of Hermaphroditus to explain his theory of the origin of the sexes. This curious theory states that all three original sexes - male, female, and hermaphrodite - had two heads and four legs, and moved about by doing cartwheels. Gradually, they became arrogant to the point where they attacked the gods. Whereupon, Zeus, in revenge, divided them all in two and moved their sexual organs to the front.
We are each of us therefore in search of our other half...

And so, ever since Zeus divided the three original sexes into two, man has been eternally seeking his lost half. When he finds it, it is love at first sight.



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J.J.Norwich, (1997:81) Love in the Ancient World