What is the myth of Pygmalion?
What is the myth of Pygmalion?
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.
Who is Paphos in Greek mythology?
In the founding myth, the town’s name is linked to the goddess Aphrodite, as the eponymous Paphos was the son (or, in Ovid, daughter) of Pygmalion whose ivory cult image of Aphrodite was brought to life by the goddess as “milk-white” Galatea.
Who was the king of Cyprus that fell in love with a statue?
The story of Pygmalion appeared earliest in a Hellenistic work, Philostephanus’ history of Cyprus, “De Cypro”. It is retold in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where the king Pygmalion is made into a sculptor who fell in love with an ivory statue he had crafted with his own hands.
Where did Pygmalion live?
Cyprus
Pygmalion and Galatea named the child Paphos, for which the city is known until this day. Story Location Clue: Pygmalion and Galatea lived out their days in the city of Paphos located west of the Troodos Mountain Range along the western coast of Cyprus. This city is also north and west of Aphrodite’s Rock.
What is the moral of Pygmalion?
Key Themes and Symbols The main theme of Pygmalion’s myth is the artist’s love of his own creation. Pygmalion becomes so infatuated with his work that he begins to treat it as if it were a real person. Another important theme, common in Greek mythology, is the equation of physical beauty with perfection.
Was Pygmalion a real person?
He is most familiar from Ovid’s narrative poem Metamorphoses, in which Pygmalion was a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved….Pygmalion (mythology)
| Pygmalion | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | King and sculptor |
| Spouse | An ivory sculpture |
| Children | Yes |
| Origin | Cyprus |
What is the meaning of Paphos?
Paphos 1. / (ˈpafɒs) / noun. a town in SW Cyprus, near the sites of two ancient cities: famous as the centre of Aphrodite worship and traditionally the place at which she landed after her birth among the waves.
Why is Cyprus important in Greek mythology?
Cyprus occupies an important role in Greek mythology being the birthplace of Aphrodite and Adonis, and home to King Cinyras, Teucer and Pygmalion. Literary evidence suggests an early Phoenician presence at Kition which was under Tyrian rule at the beginning of the 10th century BC.
Who is Cyprus in Greek mythology?
Why Pygmalion is a problem play?
Pygmalion is set in the early 20th century, at the end of the Victorian period in England. Like The Doctor’s Dilemma, Pygmalion is a problem play that examines a social issue. Shaw deals here with the assumptions of social superiority and inferiority that underlie the class system.
Why is Pygmalion play important?
Pygmalion: What George Bernard Shaw teaches us about management and human potential. In 1912, George Bernard Shaw wrote a five-act play called Pygmalion. It was both a critique of English society at the time, which was organized into separate social classes, and a plea for the proper use of the English language.
How does Pygmalion myth end?
Then, at a festival for Aphrodite, he prays that the goddess will give him a wife just like his statue. She decides to do him one better and actually bring his statue to life. The statue becomes a real woman, and she and Pygmalion get married and have two children. The end.
How old is Paphos?
Paphos, which has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, was a centre of the cult of Aphrodite and of pre-Hellenic fertility deities. Aphrodite’s legendary birthplace was on the island of Cyprus, where her temple was erected by the Myceneans in the 12th century BC and continued to be used until the Roman period.
Who is the goddess Cyprus?
Aphrodite
Cypris is a name for Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.
Where is Cyprus in mythology?
Myths about the island’s name There is also a version that the name belonged to one of the Cyprus cities located in the northern part of island (between Ankanthou and Kerinia).
Who is Pygmalion in Greek mythology?
There are actually two Pygmalions in classical mythology. The first one was a king of Tyre, the son of Mutto and the brother of Elissa. Elissa is better-known to us as Dido, of the Dido and Aeneas love story. But that Pygmalion is not the famous one. The other Pygmalion was also a king, but a king of Cyprus.
Is Paphos Pygmalion’s son?
In some versions, Paphos was a son, and they also had a daughter, Metharme. Ovid’s mention of Paphos suggests that he was drawing on a more circumstantial account than the source for a passing mention of Pygmalion in Pseudo-Apollodorus’ Bibliotheke, a Hellenic mythography of the 2nd-century AD.
What did Pygmalion do for a living?
Pygmalion was a sculptor par excellence, a man who gave to every one of his ivory a life-like appearance. His deep devotion to his art spared him no time to admire the beauty of women. His sculptures were the only beauty he knew. For reasons known only to him, Pygmalion despised and shunned women, finding solace only in his craft.
What does Ovid’s Paphos tell us about Pygmalion?
Ovid’s mention of Paphos suggests that he was drawing on a more circumstantial account than the source for a passing mention of Pygmalion in Pseudo-Apollodorus’ Bibliotheke, a Hellenic mythography of the 2nd-century AD. Perhaps he drew on the lost narrative by Philostephanus that was paraphrased by Clement of Alexandria.