Acis and Galatea (/ˈeɪsɪs/, /ɡæləˈtiː.ə/) are characters from Greek mythology later associated together in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The episode tells of the love between the mortal Acis and the Nereid (sea-nymph) Galatea; when the jealous Cyclops Polyphemus kills Acis, Galatea transforms her lover into an immortal river spirit. The episode was made the subject of poems, operas, paintings, and statues in the Renaissance and after.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier
Acis and Galatea in the context of Polyphemus
Polyphemus (/ˌpɒliˈfiːməs/ ; Ancient Greek: Πολύφημος, romanized: Polyphēmos, Epic Greek: [polypʰɛːmos]; Latin: Polyphēmus [pɔlʏˈpʰeːmʊs]) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's Odyssey. His name means "abounding in songs and legends", "many-voiced" or "very famous". Polyphemus first appeared as a savage man-eating giant in the ninth book of the Odyssey. The satyr play Cyclops by Euripides is dependent on this episode apart from one detail: Polyphemus is made a pederast in the play. Later Classical writers presented him in their poems as heterosexual and linked his name with the nymph Galatea. Often he was portrayed as unsuccessful in these, and as unaware of his disproportionate size and musical failings. In the work of even later authors, however, he is presented as both a successful lover and skilled musician. From the Renaissance on, art and literature reflect all of these interpretations of the giant.
Acis and Galatea in the context of Galatea (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Galatea (/ˌɡæləˈtiːə/; Ancient Greek: Γαλάτεια; "she who is milk-white") was the name of the following figures:
- Galatea, a Nereid who loved the shepherd Acis, and was loved by the cyclops Polyphemus.
- Galatea, the post-antiquity name given to the statue of a woman created by Pygmalion and brought to life by Aphrodite.
- Galatea, daughter of Eurytius, son of Sparton. She married a man of good family but poor, Lamprus. When she became pregnant, Lamprus wished to have a son and told her to expose the child if it turned out to be a girl. Galatea gave birth to a girl while Lamprus was away, so she—with the advice of seers and her own dreams—told Lamprus that the baby was male, and named her Leucippus. As Leucippus grew older, her true sex became harder and harder to conceal, so Galatea went to the sanctuary of Leto and prayed to the goddess to change her daughter into a man. Leto took pity on mother and daughter and made Leucippus an actual man.