Pygmalion

A king of Cyprus and father of Metharme.1 He is said to have fallen in love with the ivory image of a maiden which he himself had made, and therefore to have prayed to Aphrodite to breathe life into it. When the request was granted, Pygmalion married his beloved, and became by her the father of Paphus.

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Iconography

The love of Pygmalion for the nude statue was a favorite theme of Renaissance and baroque artists, such as Boucher and Falconet.

References

Notes

  1. Pseudo-Apollodorus. The Library iii, 14.3.
  2. Ovid. Metamorphoses x, 243 ff.

Sources

  • Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.