The Heroic Tale of Caenis/Caeneus, “...though he was born a woman”: Transphobic Centaurs, Potential Trans Allies and Ovid’s Apparent Obsession with Transmen in the Metamorphoses Book XII

This article examines the brief tale of Caenis (Caeneus), found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses XII.188-209, in which the character of Caenis, a woman, is raped by Neptune and then granted a wish; she wishes to never be subject to such an assault again and the god transforms her into a man—hence “Caeneus” thereafter. And he was not just any man, but one with heroic strength and resilience. Caeneus departs apparently pleased with his altered condition. This brief vignette perhaps lacks some of the emotional gravitas of the apposite tale of Iphis (IX.666-794), which in some ways prefaces it; however, it does suggest more than a passing interest in the theme of (ostensibly heterosexual) trans men being ‘liberated’ through a transformation by divine agency into biological men, a condition with which they are then much happier. Elsewhere, it has been argued that Ovid has accidentally discovered gender dysphoria. Was he sympathetic to actual individuals who may have suffered that condition? Or was he so immersed in his own state of what we might call ‘hetero-normative myopia’ that he was projecting his own thoughts and feelings, as a kind of thought experiment, onto characters who were biologically females but psychologically (heterosexual) males? Or did he find the whole notion of trans men to be erotically interesting for reasons of his own? This article will consider the tale of Caenis/ Caeneus in light of that of Iphis, building upon the latter, in order to better understand Ovid’s apparent obsession with trans men. It delves into his historical context and background, along with any pertinent precursors or parallels in other sources as well as taking into account the cultural norms of Ovid’s time and place. It is the assertion of the author of this work that some gifted poets such as Ovid, for whatever reasons, have obtained keener insights into the human condition than have whole hosts of philosophers and psychologists. When one comes across such an insight, it bears greater consideration. Earlier scholarship, such as Seaman in the 1930s, thought that this must be an instance of hermaphroditism. More recent scholarship, such as that by C. Northrop, have interpreted the tale of Caenis/Caeneus as a “locus for reflection on the nature of heroism” while also presenting a “transmasculity that is innovative” when compared to earlier examples. Northrop focuses more on the heroic nature of Caeneus as part of the War of the Lapiths and Centaurs. D. Freas, by contrast, argues that this tale demonstrates fundamental views about the power dynamics of sex and gender in the Augustan world, with women being considered the weaker and more subordinate sex and the male being the more desirable condition in which to be. Such trends as these in the scholarship, along with others, are taken into account; however, this subject is under-represented in the scholarship and is therefore open to newer interpretations that reflect the changed state of the modern world, and which does so on a topic of major interest.