Metamorphoses · Chapter
Fable of Iphis and Ianthe explained
Lygdus commands his wife Telethusa to kill any female infant, but she secretly raises their daughter Iphis as a boy.
What happens
Lygdus commands his wife Telethusa to kill any female infant, but she secretly raises their daughter Iphis as a boy. Years later, Iphis is betrothed to Ianthe, and the two fall in love. Iphis despairs over her impossible love, but Telethusa prays to Isis, who transforms Iphis into a man, allowing the marriage to proceed.
Themes in this chapter
Transformation and Metamorphosis
Iphis is physically transformed from a woman into a man by the goddess Isis, enabling her marriage to Ianthe.
Love and Desire
The mutual love between Iphis and Ianthe is central, with Iphis lamenting the impossibility of her passion before the transformation.
Divine Power and Human Folly
Lygdus's decree to kill a female child is a human folly, while Isis's intervention demonstrates divine power to alter fate.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“Could I the care of Providence deserve, Heaven must destroy me, if it would preserve; And that's my fate, or sure it would have sent Some usual evil for my punishment: Not this unkindly curse, to rage and burn, Where nature shows no prospect of return.”
Iphis laments that her love for Ianthe is unnatural and impossible, as both are women, and she feels cursed by fate.
Iphis expresses despair over her same-sex desire, which she sees as a violation of nature.
“The maid becomes a youth. No more delay Your vows, but look, and confidently pay.”
Iphis is transformed into a man, and the marriage can now proceed without hindrance.
The metamorphosis resolves the central conflict, allowing the lovers to wed.