Pygmalion: An Introduction

 

Pygmalion, in Greek mythology, a king who was the father of Metharme and, through her marriage to Cinyras, the grandfather of Adonis, according to Apollodorus of Athens. The Roman poet Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, Book X, relates that Pygmalion, a sculptor, makes an ivory statue representing his ideal of womanhood and then falls in love with his own creation, which he names Galatea; the goddess Venus brings the statue to life in answer to his prayer. Their daughter Paphos gives her name to the city of Paphos, the centre of Aphrodite¡¯s worship on Cyprus. The story was the inspiration for many artists: Jean-Léon Gérôme depicted the moment of transformation, and George Bernard Shaw¡¯s Pygmalion in turn provided the basis of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe¡¯s musical, My Fair Lady.

 

 

 

  Related Binaries

Storytelling and Literature Lecture Slides 8.pptx  Pygmalion Intro Lecture Slides    

Pygmalion Introduction from Geoffrey Miles Classical Mythology in English Literature.pdf  Geoffrey Miles's Intro to Pygmalion    

enotes-pygmalion-guide.pdf  Enote on Pygmalion    

Pygmalion Introduction_ Marilynn D. Harper-Pygmalion and Arms and the Man (Cliffs Notes) (1984).pdf  Cliff Notes on Pygmalion    

 

  Related Links

Wiki on Pygmalion a play    

Wiki page on Pygmalion mythology