The story of Hermaphroditus was very strange. The insane nymph has an insatiable lust for the boy Salmacis. this story has a "be careful what you wish for" vibe to it, when at the end the nymph wishes never to part form Salmacis. Well she got more than she bargained for. Interestingly enough, it seemed that Salmacis was the one who was in control of his new body. I didn't get the feeling that the nymph wanted to merge with the boy, but wanted to posses the boy's body. She just wanted him to herself. In the moment as she clings to Salmacis she's happy and wishes to never part, but doesn't realize the prophetic nature of her exclamation. Is this transformation a punishment for the nymph? For while surely, it isn't what she had in mind, her hopeful thinking became a reality, though probably not in the way she intended. Salmacis though, is probably cursing his ill-luck, or perhaps his inability to escape the nymph's clutches.
Perseus is gripped by the same force when he sees Andromeda chained. He feels the same lust that the nymph felt for Salmacis. There are huge differences though. Firstly, Perseus is a demigod, and secondly he asks Andromeda's parents if by rescuing her he wins her hand in marriage. He doesn't simply throw him self on the object of his affection like in the Hermaphroditus story. He killed the sea serpent to win the princes, and this story arc of rescuing the damsel in distress is a recurring theme in mythology and continues in today's literature. He also asks for her hand in marriage, instead of simply going straight to sex. It's a disciplined, civilized solution to the problem. In the Hermaphroditus story, the lesson is that unshackled primal urges must be kept under control and measured. The nymph's reckless misconduct caused an unnatural joining of two parties, one willing, and the other unwilling.
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