Many cultures have their own gods, demigods and even heroes with male and female "attributes".
Is Shiva a woman or a man?
In Hindu mythology, Shiva was seduced by one of Vishnu's female avatars, Mohini, who bore him the god Shasta (Ayyappa is his middle name). Shiva himself is often depicted as Ardhanarishvara, the androgynous form of Shiva and Parvati, whose body on the right side was male and on the left, female. Arjuna, a great warrior, lived for one year in the guise of a woman, and during this time he took the name Brhanala (taught singing and dancing lessons to Princess Uttara).
So who is Ishtar?
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The Mesopotamian Ishtar (the beautiful goddess of fertility, love, war) is sometimes depicted with a beard. This is done to highlight her more warlike side. She could turn a man into a woman, and those individuals who represented her cult had both male and female characteristics. After the hero Gilgamesh rejected her proposal to marry, Ishtar untied the Bull of Heaven, who ultimately killed Enkidu, Gilgamesh's companion and best friend, whom he loved most.
Hapi, the Egyptian god representing the Nile flood, promoted such fertility that even some considered him the father of all gods. He is usually depicted as a hermaphrodite - with a saggy chest and a false beard. Hapi can be compared to the goddess Tlasolteotl, the Aztec patroness of fertility and sexuality. Tlasolteotl is associated with the Moon. In this culture, she has both male and female characteristics. The Goddess inspires everyone to vices, she can also, unlike Jesus, cleanse us and absorb all our sins (this was believed by representatives of some cultures).
What about the Greek gods?
To seduce the nymph Callisto, Zeus, king of the Greek gods, took the form of the goddess Artemis. Zeus had a lot of lovers, but, as Xenophon points out, the only one who was granted immortality was Ganymede, the son of the Trojan king Tros. Other examples of same-sex love in Greek mythology: Apollo and Hyacinth, Hermes and Crocus, Dionysus and Ampel, Poseidon and Pelop, Orpheus and Calais, Hercules and Abder, Hylas and Iolaus. The Prophet Tiresias spent seven years in the body of a woman, even gave birth to children at that time. Once Zeus and Hera dragged him into an argument about who enjoys sex more: a woman, as Zeus claimed, or a man, as Hera said. Tiresias was sure that out of ten body parts a man uses only one. Later, Hera blinded him, but Zeus compensated for this shortcoming and awarded him with the gift of foresight, in addition, gave him seven lives.
How can you explain all this gender variability of the gods?
The union of the masculine and feminine elements shows that they are complementary, inseparable, or one and the same being. It emphasizes divine attributes such as strength, creativity or fertility and limitlessness. Such completeness also represents perfection and self-sufficiency, finally, peace or even ecstasy. Spiritual schools tend to view this favorably, as the attraction between a man and a woman (or even same-sex union) generates worldly concerns and attachments such as children and the home, and this does not distract from spiritual work and cleansing.
As for different heroes and gods, gender variability helps them look like something more than just a mortal being.
Victoria Ivashura