Gender identity disputed in the court of justice: A story of female to male sexual transformation in the hellenistic period, described by Diodorus Siculus

Abstract

Cases of sexual reassignment in Greco-Roman antiquity, presenting as a pubertal female-to-male gender transformation, are described in the “classical” literature. Textual evidence concerning a case of androgynism, garnered by Diodorus Siculus, among other similar accounts, as an odd story of gender dispute in a court of justice, is provided in the present study. A medical interpretation of the data pertaining to this case has been attempted and is herein reported. The spontaneous virilization and post-pubertal gender inversion of the specific individual appears to have been caused by a defect either in 5α-reductase type 2 or in 17β hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase genes and consequent deficient enzymatic activity.