What NOT To Ask A Trans Person: Menippus and Tiresias, Lucian, dialogi mortuorum XXVIII

 TRIGGER WARNING: gaslighting, invasive questioning, misogyny 

Please remember that invasive questions, even well-intentioned, are not appropriate. People do not "owe" you their story or a tour of their anatomy. The following dialog gives a perfect example of how invasive these questions can be. 

MENIPPUS & TIRESIAS in the Underworld:

MEN: Tiresia, caecusne sis, non amplius dignoscere facile: cunctis enim nobis perinde oculi sunt vacui: solum restant oculorum cava loca. Ceterum dicere nequeas, uter Phineus sit, an Lynceus. Iam vatem fuisse, & utrumque te solum, marem ac feminam, ex poetis audivisse memini. Per Deos itaque te obtestor, expone mihi, utrum expertus fueris suavius vitae genus, cum mas fores, an femina?

TIR: Potior erat magno intervallo, Menippe, vita feminini sexus, quippe magis negotiorum expers: tum dominantur in viros mulieres, neque eas bello vacare necesse est, neque ad murorum pinnas stantes excubare, neque in contionibus altercari, neque in iudiciis versari.

MEN: Non tu audivisti, Tiresia, Euripidae Medeam, qualia dixerit deplorans muliebrem secus, tanquam miseras, atque intolerandum ex puerperiis dolorem sustinentes. Verum dic mihi (nam admonuerunt me isti Medeae iambi) peperistine aliquando, cum mulier eras, an sterilis & partus expers digisti in illo vitae statu?

TIR: Quid illud, Menippe, rogitas?

MEN: Nihil explicatu difficile, Tiresia: quin responde, si tibi promptum.

TIR: Haud sterilis eram, neque tamen peperi.

MEN: Satis est: nimirum an matricem habuisses, volebam scire.

TIR: Habebam scilicet.

MEN: Temporis autem tractu tibi matrix evanuit, pars muliebris obstructa fuit, mammae emarcuerunt, & virile membrum succrevit, barbamque protulisti, an statim ex femina masculus evasisti?

TIR: Non video, quid tibi velit quaesitum illud: 

Μένιππος καὶ Τειρεσίας.

Μένιππος

ὦ Τειρεσία, εἰ μὲν καὶ τυφλὸς εἶ, οὐκέτι διαγνῶναι ῥᾴδιον: ἅπασι γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁμοίως τὰ ὄμματα κενά, μόνον δὲ αἱ χῶραι αὐτῶν: τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα οὐκέτ᾽ ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοις, τίς ὁ Φινεὺς ἦν ἢ τίς ὁ Λυγκεύς. ὅτι μέντοι μάντις ἦσθα καὶ ὅτι ἀμφότερα ἐγένου μόνος καὶ ἀνὴρ καὶ γυνή, τῶν ποιητῶν ἀκούσας οἶδα. πρὸς τῶν θεῶν τοιγαροῦν εἰπέ μοι, ὁποτέρου ἐπειράθης ἡδίονος τῶν βίων, ὁπότε ἀνὴρ ἦσθα, ἢ ὁ γυναικεῖος ἀμείνων ἦν;

 

Τειρεσίας

παρὰ πολύ, ὦ Μένιππε, ὁ γυναικεῖος: ἀπραγμονέστερος γὰρ. καὶ δεσπόζουσι τῶν ἀνδρῶν αι γυναῖκες, καὶ οὔτε πολεμεῖν ἀνάγκη αὐταῖς οὔτε παρ᾽ ἔπαλξιν ἑστάναι οὔτ᾽ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ διαφέρεσθαι οὔτ᾽ ἐν δικαστηρίοις ἐξετάζεσθαι.

 

Μένιππος

[2] οὐ γὰρ ἀκήκοας, ὦ Τειρεσία, τῆς Εὐριπίδου Μηδείας, οἷα εἶπεν οἰκτείρουσα τὸ γυναικεῖον, ὡς ἀθλίας οὔσας καὶ ἀφόρητόν τινα τὸν ἐκ τῶν ὠδίνων πόνον ὑφισταμένας; ἀτὰρ εἰπέ μοι, — ὑπέμνησε γάρ με τὰ τῆς Μηδείας ἰαμβεῖα — καὶ ἔτεκές ποτε, ὁπότε γυνὴ ἦσθα, ἢ στεῖρα καὶ ἄγονος διετέλεσας ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ βίῳ;

 

Τειρεσίας

τί τοῦτο, Μένιππε, ἐρωτᾷς;

 

Μένιππος

οὐδὲν χαλεπόν, ὦ Τειρεσία: πλὴν ἀπόκρίναι, εἴ σοι ῥᾴδιον. [p. 187]

 

Τειρεσίας

οὐ στεῖρα μὲν ἤμην, οὐκ ἔτεκον δ᾽ ὅλως.

 

Μένιππος

ἱκανὸν τοῦτο: εἰ γὰρ καὶ μήτραν εἶχες, ἐβουλόμην εἰδέναι.

 

Τειρεσίας

εἶχον δηλαδή.

 

Μένιππος

χρόνῳ δέ σοι ἡ μήτρα ἠφανίσθη καὶ τὸ μόριον τὸ γυναικεῖον ἀπεφράγη καὶ οἱ μαστοὶ ἀπεσπάσθησαν καὶ τὸ ἀνδρεῖον ἀνέφυ καὶ πώγωνα ἐξήνεγκας, ἢ αὐτίκα ἐκ γυναικὸς ἀνὴρ ἀνεφάνης;

 

Τειρεσίας

οὐχ ὁρῶ τί σοι βούλεται τὸ ἐρώτημα...

--Lucian, Dialogi Mortuorum XXVIII [Selections], Translated into Latin by Tiberius Hemesterhusius & Ioannis Fredericus Reitzius (1789)

MENIPPUS: Tiresias, are you still blind? I can’t tell anymore. None of us have eyes, only eye holes [as skeletons]. Moreover, you can’t tell whether this guy’s Phineas, or that guy’s Lynceus. I remember hearing from the epic poets that you were the only prophet who was both a man and a woman. By gods, please tell me which lifestyle was better, being a man or being a woman?

TIRESIAS: Being a woman, by far, was less stressful. Women control men, but they don’t have to go to war, and they don’t have to defend their country, and they don’t have to take part in government or participate in court.

MENIPPUS: But didn’t you hear about Euripides’ Medea, where she complains about the troubles of being a woman, and how hard it was to give birth? OOOH! But speaking of Medea—when you were a woman, were you barren?

TIRESIAS: WHAT ARE YOU ASKING, MENIPPUS?

MENIPPUS: Oh, it’s not a hard question, Tiresias: so answer me. It’s easy.

TIRESIAS: I didn’t give birth, but I wasn’t barren.

MENIPPUS: Cool, cool. I just wanted to know if you had lady parts.

TIRESIAS: Well, of course I did.

MENIPPUS: So like, over time, did your lady parts disappear, and your breasts fall off, and then you grew man parts, or like did you suddenly transform from woman to man?

TIRESIAS: I don’t understand why you’re asking me this…

LUCIAN

MAP:

Name:  Lucianus Samosatensis

Date:  125 – 180 CE

Works: Dialogue of the Dead*

               True History, etc.

REGION  4

BIO:

Timeline:

 Lucian was a Turkish-born Roman satirist who wrote in ancient Greek. His works are a mixture of sarcasm, wit, and biting social criticism. He is without a doubt one of the most popular authors of the later Roman empire.

 ROMAN GREECE