Greek Mythology

The Classical Gods of Ancient Greece

CAENIS

Greek legendary mortal

Also known as Caeneus

Sex-change Maiden Warrior

Caenis started off as a beautiful mortal maiden who was date-raped by Poseidon. She was so traumatized that, for once in his life, Poseidon felt guilty. He offered to make amends in any way he could. “I never want to go through that again,” she said. “Turn me into a man.”

Her wish was granted, the sex-change was performed, and she became an invulnerable warrior. Of course she — sorry, he — could not go around with a lady’s name. Everyone would talk. So he changed it to Caeneus and went off boar-hunting with the Argonauts.

Many battles later, Caeneus came up against some centaurs who, unable to kill him, buried him alive under a mountainous pile of rocks and tree trunks. But he simply flew off, having turned at last into a bird. Allegedly a female one.

Caenis Facts and Figures

Name: Caenis
Pronunciation: Coming soon
Alternative names: Caeneus

Gender: Male and female
Type: legendary mortal
Celebration or Feast Day: Unknown at present

Role: Unknown at present

Good/Evil Rating: Unknown at present
Popularity index: 6000

Copy this link to share with anyone:



Share this page on social media:


Link to this page:

HTML: To link to this page, just copy and paste the link below into your blog, web page or email.

BBCODE: To link to this page in a forum post or comment box, just copy and paste the link code below:

Cite this article

Here's the info you need to cite this page. Just copy the text in the box below.


Article last revised on September 06, 2018 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

Permissions page


Oh woe. Javascript is switched off in your browser.
Some bits of this website may not work unless you switch it on.