The Metamorphoses Summary:Pygmalion
Pygmalion is a sculptor from Cyprus. Pygmalion sees the shamefulness and evilness of women from Cyprus and decides to remain a bachelor. He, therefore, carves a sculpture from ivory of the ideal woman, lovelier than any real woman could be. The ivory girl is so alluring that Pygmalion falls deeply in love, bestowing his ivory girl with trinkets of admiration.
Pygmalion attends Venus’ festival to honor the goddess. At the festival, he prays to Venus for a wife like his ivory girl. Venus has compassion for Pygmalion’s love of the sculpture and grants his wish. When Pygmalion returns home, he kisses his beloved sculpture wishing she were alive and notices the sculpture’s ivory is becoming supple like human flesh. At first he thinks this is wishful thinking. As Pygmalion caresses his ivory girl, the sculpture blossoms to life under his probing touch. Pygmalion’s ivory sculpture changes into a flesh-and-blood girl, who he promptly marries and impregnates. They call their child Paphos, which later becomes another name for Cyprus.
Work Cited
Ovid. Pygmalion. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 927-928.
Additional Resources
Questions for Consideration
1. Why carve the lady out of ivory?
2. Why is Pygmalion feared by the gods?
3. Why does the ivory lady accept Pygmalion?
4. How tall do you think the ivory lady was?