Happily Ever After: The Myth of Iphis & Ianthe, Lactantius Placidus, Narr. 9. fab.10

The Transformation of Iphis

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 9, Story 10

Ligdus, a man of noble birth and upstanding character, asked his pregnant wife Telethusa to kill their child if she gave birth to a girl, but to keep it if she gave birth to a boy. Unable to kill her daughter, Telethusa begged the goddess Isis to help her in her troubles. The goddess gave her reassurance, and so she told her husband that she had a son and raised the child as a boy. When Iphis grew up, his father had him betrothed to Ianthe, the daughter of Thelestis. They both fell madly in love with each other. Telethusa was terrified that Iphis would be outed, and Iphis was even more  so, so she once again asked the goddess Isis for help. Isis transformed Iphis into a boy so he could get married.

The Transformation of Iphis

Hic [In insula Creta] Ligdus generosae stirpis ac praestantis fidei cum petisset a Telethusa coniuge, ut, si puellam pareret, necaret, si puerum autem, sobolem patriae servaret, et uterque pro casu futuro lacrimas dedissent, mater nequiens adferre manus filiae Isidem in malis habuit auxilio; cuius pollicitis illa infantem pro puero, decepto patre filii opinione, nutrivit. Itaque cum aetas matura nuptiis increvisset, nihil suspicans pater obstrictus fide coniugis Ianthen ex Theleste genitam despondit. Qui inter se cum gravi amore premerentur, maxime Iphis (hoc enim pater nomine avi cum vocari voluerat), trepidante ergo matre, ne Iphis diu adversus virum cum infamia reperiretur, eadem dea fuit in auxlilio. Nam ut totis nuptiis iugari possint, Iphin in puerum transfiguravit.

Lactantius Placidus [5^th or 6^th century CE] is the name of the author attributed to a prose summary of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, but little is known about the author or his time period.