Episode One
Yes, it’s very easy to say Mythology. But how many similarities, how many human behaviors, how many predictable mistakes are hidden behind this simple noun. Do you really want me to venture into some comparisons with modern society? I’ll do it, if that’s what you want. Prepare yourselves for some burning and predictable disappointment. But where to begin? We certainly can’t rely on chronology—myths are timeless—so I’ll have to improvise. Naturally, I’ll refer to Greek mythology, which is the one I know best and perhaps the most complete; may the others forgive me.
Caenis and Caeneus: Caenis is a very beautiful girl who gives herself to Poseidon. The god, pleased with her, tells her to ask for anything she desires. The girl makes an unusual request: she wants to be transformed into an invincible warrior. Pay close attention to the request—not just into a man, but into an invincible warrior. Caeneus, the new being, begins to win battles and soon becomes king of his people, the Lapiths. But that’s not enough: Caeneus plants a spear in the Agora and forces the Lapiths to worship it. For the gods of Olympus, this is too much. At the wedding of Pirithous, the centaurs attack Caeneus, but they cannot kill him, since arrows and spears bounce off his body. The centaurs change strategy and bury Caeneus under a heap of logs, and he dies suffocated. Shortly afterward, a small bird is seen flying out of the pile, and once the wood is removed, the lifeless body of Caeneus reappears—having become once again a beautiful girl.
What can one say? Even more than then, today the urge to change sex is present. Men who want to become women and vice versa—nothing new, except for the fact that what was then a miracle achievable only by Poseidon is today possible by forcing surgery and endocrinology. The result, no matter what the protagonists say, is always unhappiness—unfortunately, both before and after. The lesson of Caeneus has served no purpose, and many centuries later disaster is guaranteed thanks to human arrogance. May God keep me from judging these unhappy people; my critical attention, however, is directed at those who cynically and for money encourage such impulses, hypocritically fulfilling them under the banner of a toxic notion of progress.
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