In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a king of the island of Cyprus and a sculptor who may have been a human son of the sea god Poseidon (pronounced poh-SYE-dun). He spent many years carving an ivory statue of a woman more beautiful than any living female. According to myth, Pygmalion became fascinated by his sculpture and fell in love with it. He pretended it
was an actual woman. He brought it presents and treated it as if it were alive. However, the statue could not respond to his attentions, and Pygmalion became miserable. Finally, he prayed to Aphrodite (pronounced af-ro-DYE-tee), the goddess of love, to bring him a woman like his statue. Aphrodite did even better. She brought the statue to life. Pygmalion married
this woman, often called Galatea (pronounced gal-uh-TEE-uh), who gave birth to a daughter
(or, in some versions, a son).
