Pygmalion (redirected from Pigmalion)

Pygmalion (pĭgmāl`yən).

1 In Greek mythology, king of Cyprus. He fell in love with a beautiful statue of a woman. When he prayed to Aphrodite for a wife like it, the goddess brought the statue to life and Pygmalion married her. In one version of the legend, the statue becomes Aphrodite; another states that Pygmalion sculpted the statue himself and that after coming to life it was called Galatea.

2 In Vergil's Aeneid, king of Tyre. He was the brother of Dido and killed her husband, Sychaeus, to get his riches.

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Pygmalion

In Greek mythology, a king of Cyprus who fell in love with a statue of Aphrodite. The goddess took pity on him and brought the statue to life, and he married her. In some versions of the myth Pygmalion was a sculptor who carved the statue himself because he was disgusted with the faults of ordinary women, and when it was brought to life he gave it the name Galatea.

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Pygmalion

carved so beautiful and lifelike a statue that he fell in love with it. [Gk. Myth.: Benét]

See : Artistic Skill

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Pygmalion

sculpts beautiful image which comes to life. [Rom. Lit.: Metamorphoses]

See : Craftsmanship

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Pygmalion

in mythology:

(1) King of Tyre and brother of Dido (Elissa), the legendary founder of Carthage. Pygmalion slew Dido’s husband in order to take possession of his wealth.

(2) King of Cyprus, and sculptor, who fell in love with a statue he had sculpted of the girl Galatea. In answer to his prayers, Aphrodite brought the statue to life. There are also other variants of the myth.

The name “Pygmalion” has come to signify someone who falls in love with his own creation. The subject has been used repeatedly in literature and art—by Ovid, J.-J. Rousseau, B. Shaw, F. Boucher, E.-M. Falconet, and others.