Genesis Meets Greek Mythology

Genesis would sometimes draw upon literary classics for their songs. Other times it would be folklore. For this song, it would be Greek Mythology. While some fans think there are many meanings behind the song, it is simply based on the first story of a Hermaphrodite and can be commonly found in Greek literature. Genesis was loyal to the story. The lyrics never stray from the original written many centuries earlier about Hermaphrodites and the Naiad.

Who was Salmacis? Salmacis was an atypical nymph, rejecting the ways of the virginal goddess of the hunt Diana in favor of vanity and idleness. Her attempted rape of Hermaphroditus places her as the only nymph rapist in the Greek mythological canon.

Phil Collins stated in one of the post-Gabriel gigs, 'a hermaphrodite is a person that is a man and a woman at the same time, in the same pair of trousers as it were. And that is truly the story behind the Fountain of Salmacis.