In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Telethusa is the Cretan wife of Ligdus at Phaistos who, warned by Isis in a dream, raises their daughter Iphis as a boy rather than expose her. On the eve of Iphis' wedding to Ianthe she prays again at Isis' temple; the goddess transforms Iphis into a man so the marriage can proceed.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Iphis" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Ligdus' vow and Isis' dream
Near Phaistos, Ligdus tells his pregnant wife that they cannot afford a daughter's dowry and that a girl-child must be put to death. Telethusa cannot sway him. At night Isis appears with her Egyptian train and bids Telethusa keep the child whatever its sex, promising aid in future trouble.
When a daughter is born, Telethusa and the nurse conceal the child's sex and raise her as a son named Iphis — a name Telethusa welcomes as gender-neutral.
II.Wedding and transformation
At thirteen Ligdus betroths Iphis to Ianthe, daughter of Telestes. The two fall in love; Ianthe expects a husband, while Iphis despairs of a marriage that would expose the deception. Telethusa delays the wedding until every excuse fails, then takes Iphis to Isis' temple. The altar moves and the doors shake; leaving the shrine they find Iphis transformed into a man — sterner features, shorter hair, greater strength.
Mother and child dedicate a commemorative tablet. The next day Iphis marries Ianthe under Juno, Hymenaeus, and Venus. Scholars note the tale as the principal Graeco-Roman myth of female same-sex desire, and as a close cousin of the Cretan Leucippus story.
III.Identity
The atlas id telethusa is Ligdus' wife in the Ovidian Cretan tale. She is not a Homeric figure and should not be merged with other mothers of children named Iphis.