Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1965, Page 82

True Hermaphroditism*)
Two cases with chromosome analysis
J. P. Hart Hansen & Marner Simonsen.
A true hermaphrodite is an individual with both male and
female gonadal tissue. According to Greek mythology, Herma-
phroditus was a child of Hermes and Aphrodite, the goddess
of love, and inherited the attributes of both parents, so that
the sex of the child could not be determined. Ancient artists
often depicted Hermaphroditus as a female with male geni-
talia (Fig. 1). In the course of time hermaphrodites have
played a great part in man’s imagination, and this found
expression in literature, art, and legislation of ancient times1.
Pseudohermaphroditism is a congenital condition, in which
the gonad of the individual is either of a male or a female
character, whereas the external genitalia more or less resemble
those of the opposite sex. Intersexuality is a coilective term
designating all conditions in which the sexual development is
essentially different from normal, so that the actual sex of
the individual cannot be recognized immediately, and condi-
tions in which the gonads and internal genitalia do not corre-
*) From the surgical department (Head: Th. P. Dahl), Landssjúkra-
húsið, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands and the department D (Head: J. C.
Christoffersen), Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.