Caeneus  

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-Shapeshifting, transformations and metamorphoses serve a wide variety of purposes in classical mythology. 
-Examples of shapeshifting in [[classical literature]] include many examples in [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'', [[Circe]]'s transforming of [[Odysseus]]' men to pigs in [[Homer]]'s ''[[The Odyssey]]'', and [[Apuleius]]'s Lucius becoming a donkey in ''[[The Golden Ass]]''. +In [[Greek mythology]], '''Caeneus''' ([[Ancient Greek]] Καινεύς or Kaineus) was a [[Lapith]] [[Greek hero|hero]] of [[Thessaly]] and, in [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]''— where the classical model of a hero is deconstructed and transformed— originally a woman, '''Caenis'''. In [[Apollonius of Rhodes]]' ''[[Argonautica]]'', where there is no inkling of his transgender, he was briefly noted as the great father of a lesser son, [[Coronus]], who sailed forth among the [[Argonauts]]. The striking mythic image of this hero is that, indomitable through his more-than-human power, his enemies the [[Centaur]]s resorted to driving him into the ground with [[Picea|fir]] [[Pine|pine timbers]]:
- +<blockquote>they could neither force him to yield, nor yet dispatch him,<br>
-[[Proteus]] among the gods was particularly noted for his shape-shifting; both [[Menelaus]] and [[Aristaeus]] seized him to win information from him, and succeeded only because they held on during his manifold shape changes.+but unbowed, unbroken, he went into earth down under,<br>
- +crushed by a shattering hail of heavy pine trunks.
-While the Greek gods could use transformation punitively &mdash; as for [[Arachne]], turned to a spider for her pride in her weaving, and [[Medusa]], turned to a monster for having sexual intercourse with [[Poseidon]] in [[Athena]]'s temple &mdash; even more frequently, the tales using it are of amorous adventure. [[Zeus]] repeatedly transformed himself to approach mortal women, both as a means of gaining access:+</blockquote>
-*[[Danaë]] as a shower of gold+
-*[[Europa (mythology)|Europa]] as a bull+
-*[[Leda (mythology)|Leda]] as a swan+
-*[[Alcmene]] as her husband+
-or to attempt to conceal his affair from [[Hera]] +
-*[[Io (mythology)|Io]], as a cloud, and Io herself as a white heifer. +
- +
-More innocently, [[Vertumnus]] transformed himself into an old woman in order to gain entry to [[Pomona]]'s orchard; there, he persuaded her to marry him.+
- +
-In other tales, the woman appealed to other gods to protect her from [[rape]], and was transformed ([[Daphne]] into laurel, [[Cornix]] into a crow). Unlike Zeus and other god's shape-shifting, these women were permanently metamorphosed.+
- +
-In one tale, [[Demeter#Demeter and Poseidon|Demeter]] transformed herself into a mare to escape [[Poseidon#Lovers|Poseidon]], but Poseidon counter-transformed himself into a stallion to pursue her, and succeeded in the rape.+
- +
-Humans were also transformed, for many reasons.+
- +
-[[Tiresias]] once saw two snakes mating and struck the female with his staff; this transformed him into a woman, and he lived as such for many years. At the end, he saw the snakes again, and this time was careful to hit the male, which restored him to male form.+
- +
-[[Caenis]], having been raped by [[Poseidon]], demanded of him that she be changed to a man. He agreed, and she became [[Caeneus]], a form he never lost, except, in some versions, upon death.+
- +
-As a final reward from the gods for their hospitality, [[Baucis and Philemon]] were transformed, at their deaths, into a pair of trees.+
- +
-[[Pygmalion (mythology)|Pygmalion]] having fallen in love with a statue he had made, [[Venus]] had pity on him and transformed the stone to a living woman.+
- +
-In some variants of the tale of [[Narcissus (mythology)|Narcissus]], he is turned into a flower.+
- +
-After [[Tereus]] raped [[Philomela]] and cut out her tongue to silence her, she wove her story into a tapestry for her sister, Tereus's wife [[Procne]], and the sisters murdered his son and fed him to his father. When he discovered this, he tried to kill them, but the gods changed them all into birds.+
- +
-Sometimes metamorphoses transformed objects into humans. In the myths of both [[Jason]] and [[Cadmus]], one task set to the hero was to sow [[Dragon's teeth (mythology)|dragon's teeth]]; on being sown, they would metamorphose into belligerent warriors, and both heroes had to trick them into fighting each other to survive. [[Deucalion]] and [[Pyrrha]] repopulated the world after a flood by throwing stones behind them; they were transformed into people. [[Cadmus]] is also known to have transformed into a dragon or serpent towards the end of his life.+
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In Greek mythology, Caeneus (Ancient Greek Καινεύς or Kaineus) was a Lapith hero of Thessaly and, in Ovid's Metamorphoses— where the classical model of a hero is deconstructed and transformed— originally a woman, Caenis. In Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica, where there is no inkling of his transgender, he was briefly noted as the great father of a lesser son, Coronus, who sailed forth among the Argonauts. The striking mythic image of this hero is that, indomitable through his more-than-human power, his enemies the Centaurs resorted to driving him into the ground with fir pine timbers:

they could neither force him to yield, nor yet dispatch him,
but unbowed, unbroken, he went into earth down under,
crushed by a shattering hail of heavy pine trunks.


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