Caeneus and Heroic (Trans)Masculinity in Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Abstract:Ovid’s Caeneus is a figure of heroism whose identity as a transman challenges the boundaries of gender and birthright. His career as a transmasculine warrior culminates in his battle with the centaurs. This battle forms a kind of debate over the nature of masculinity, gender identity, and heroism in the world of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Combining analyses of narrative and rhetoric in the Caeneus episode of Book 12 with parallels from the Metamorphoses and the Ovidian corpus, this paper analyzes Ovid’s depiction of Caeneus, his heroic identity and his gender identity. It argues that Ovid’s Caeneus attains the highest levels of heroic achievement not despite of but because of his transmasculinity.