In Greek and Roman mythology, Iphis or Iphys ( , ; Îphis , gen. Ἴφιδος Ī́phidos) was a child of Telethusa and Ligdus in Crete, born female and raised male, who was later transformed by the goddess Isis into a man. Mythology According to the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, there was a humbly born, but well-respected, man named Ligdus who lived in Phaestus with his pregnant wife, Telethusa. Ligdus said he wished for two things: that his wife delivers the baby with as little pain as possible, and that the child would be a boy. As the couple was poor, they could not afford a dowry if their unborn child was born a girl. Ligdus was forced to come to the conclusion that they must kill the child if it was female. The couple cried, but Ligdus' mind was made up. Telethusa despaired, but was visited in the middle of the night by the Egyptian goddess Isis, along with a train of other gods: Anubis, Bastet, Apis, Harpocrates, Osiris, and the Egyptian serpent. Isis advised her to disobey her husband's orders and to keep the child, regardless of if it was a girl and guaranteed any needed future assistance to the woman. When Telethusa gave birth to a girl, she concealed her daughter's sex from her husband and raised her daughter as a boy. Lidgus named him Iphis, after his father; Telethusa was happy with the name, as it was gender neutral. As Iphis reached the age of adolescence, Ligdus, still unaware of the truth, arranged for his son to marry Ianthe, daughter of Telestes. Unaware of the truth and taking her suitor for a man like everyone else, Ianthe fell in love with Iphis, with whom she had been instructed alongside and shared the same teachers. Likewise, Iphis fell deeply in love with Ianthe. Iphis lamented and prayed to Juno for assistance, as she wished to marry Ianthe, but knew it would be impossible as she was actually a woman. Telethusa procrastinated the wedding of her daughter, Iphis, until she was unable to delay any longer. One day before the wedding, the deeply concerned and desperate Telethusa brought Iphis to the temple of Isis and prayed to the goddess to help her daughter. Isis was deeply moved and responded by transforming Iphis into a man. The male Iphis married Ianthe and the two lived happily ever after, their marriage