My other update comes courtesy of a Twitter used called Snek who posted an extract from a work by Lucian of Samaosata. Lucian was a Greek writer who lived in what is modern day Turkey under the Roman Empire (2nd Century CE). He is probably best known to my readers as the author of True History, a work that is often cited as the first ever science fiction novel. It is certainly true that the book tells of voyages to other planets. However, Lucian was a satirist, and the book has more in common with Gulliver’s Travels than with the world of Verne and Wells. It is doubtful that Lucian intended it to be taken as serious scientific speculation.
While this might be Lucian’s most famous work, it is by no means his only one. Another book that he wrote is The Mimes of the Courtesans. This is a set of fictional reminiscences by hetairai — Greek high class sex workers — which again is a work of satire. The original English translation of the work was made in 1905 by HW & FG Fowler, who are more famous today for their magnificent book, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, which is still widely considered to be the ultimate English style guide. However, the Fowlers omitted several sections from their version, deeming them unsuitable for a modern audience. Snek quoted from a 1928 translation by someone only known as “ALH”. This includes the three missing sections, one of which is titled “The Lesbians”.
This short section features a conversation between a hetaira called Leaina and a young man called Clonarion. The lad has heard tell of a relationship between Leaina and a “wealthy lady from Lesbos” called Megilla. Leaina is somewhat embarrassed by the whole affair, but explains that Megilla prefers to be known as Megillos and identifies as a man. The story is called “The Lesbians” because Megillos and his wife, Demonassa, come from Lesbos, though Lucian would undoubtedly have been aware of Sappho and would have set the story there accordingly. However, reading the story, it is very clear that Megillos is someone whom we would identify as a trans man. You can read the whole thing here.
Obviously this is a work of fiction, not an historical report of an actual trans man. But it seems unlikely to me that Lucian would have come up with such a story had he not at least been aware of butch lesbians, and quite likely of trans men.
Clearly even nearly two thousand years ago cis men were dying to know, “What do Lesbians do in bed?!” and Lucian has fun with what was probably an eye-rolling cliché even then.
Many thanks for that.
The problem here is that, as you say, Lucian is a satirist; given that we have earlier stories of cross-dressing (not trans people) such as Clodius spying on the rites of the Bona Dea or Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazusae this could equally be an extension of that, rather than evidence of historical trans people; mind you, I fully plan to go digging and see what I can find on the topic over the next few months!
What I’m seeing from cross-cultural study is that there are some cultures where in order to have a same-sex relationship one partner has to take a trans-gendered role for it to be acceptable. Think of modern Iran, for example. In such cases it is hard to make assumptions about individuals. Other societies, however, allow same-sex relationships that are also same-gender, and in such cases the existed of trans people is much clearer. I don’t know enough about Lucian and his times, or the society he’s claiming to write about, to make that call yet.