Leucippus
Contemporary depiction of Leucippus removing hispeplos.
Affiliation	Greek
Abode	Phaistos
Festivals	Ecdysia in honor ofLeto
Genealogy
Parents	Galatea andLamprus

InGreek mythology,Leucippus (Ancient Greek:Λεύκιππος,romanized: Leúkippos,lit. 'white horse') was a young man ofPhaistos,Crete. Leucippus was born toLamprus, the son ofPandion, andGalatea, daughter of Eurytius the son of Sparton. He is notable for having undergone a magical gender transformation by the will of the goddessLeto. Due to his transition from female to male, Leucippus can be considered atransgender male figure inGreek mythology.

His story was included in theMetamorphoses byAntoninus Liberalis. It shares several elements with the myth ofIphis, another female Cretan child raised as and transformed into a male fromOvid's poem theMetamorphoses.

Leucippus was born inPhaistos,Crete. When his motherGalatea was pregnant, her husbandLamprus told her he would only accept a male child. Galatea gave birth while Lamprus was away pasturing his cattle, and the infant was female. Following the advice of seers, Galatea gave her child a masculine name, Leucippus, and told her husband that she had given birth to a son.^[1]

Leucippus was raised as a boy, but upon approaching puberty, it became necessary to conceal his female sex from Lamprus, presumably to avoid drawing his ire. Galatea went to the sanctuary of Leto and prayed that Leucippus could become biologically male. Leto took pity on Galatea and her child, and thus granted the prayer and changed Leucippus into a boy.^[1]

In commemoration of this event, the people of Phaistos surnamed Leto Phytia (from Greek φύω "to grow"). They established arite of passage^[2] feast in honor of Leto,^[3] which was calledEcdysia (from Greek ἑκδύω "to undress").^[4] It was named for Leucippus who was able to remove his "maidenly"peplos after his transformation.^[5] The festival became an annual initiation ritual, focused on the transition of boys to men as they joined the youth corps,agela.^[6] The "young [men] were required to put on women's clothes and swear an oath of citizenship,"^[6] after which "herds of youth [would] strip off theirpeploi publicly," reenacting Leucippus's transformation.^[7][8]

It became a custom for brides and bridal couples of Phaistos to lie beside an image or statue of Leucippus before weddings.^{[1][9][10][11]}

• Iphis of Crete, child of Ligdus andTelethusa, magically transformed into a man by the goddessIsis^[12]
• Caeneus, transformed into an invincible man byPoseidon, later defeated byCentaurs
• Teiresias, who hadclairvoyance and was being transformed into a woman for seven years
• Mnestra, who Poseidon gave the ability to change shape at will
• Siproites ofCrete, who was transformed into a woman for having seenArtemis bathing

• Antoninus Liberalis,The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992).Online version at the Topos Text Project.

• Metamorphoses into the opposite sex in Greek mythology
• Leto
• Mythological Cretans

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