‘The Sleeping Hermaphroditus’ — This statue is of — Hermaphroditos who was a son of Hermes and Aphrodite, the gods of male and female sexuality. The unique thing about the statue is that it has both male and female organs. This is where the word ‘ Hermaphrodite’. How did he come to be so? The legend has it that he was born a remarkably handsome boy with whom the naiad Salmacis fell in love and prayed to be united forever. A god, in answer to her prayer, merged their two forms into one and transformed them into an androgynous form. He is the god of hermaphrodites and of effeminates. The statue at Louvre is actually made of two parts, one the bed which and the other part is the sleeping sculpture of Hermaphroditus. It has been so amazingly created that the marble has been shaped to portray the softness of a bed showcasing impacts of weight where the body rests.