Talk:Galatea (mythology)

Quote: "No extant ancient text mentions her name."

Galatea is mentioned in Virgil's third Eclogue, line 64: "Malo me Galatea petit..." The name is not even mentioned in connection with Virgil; this must be corrected. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tcudney1 (talk • contribs) 23:03, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Galatea, the statue carved by Pygmalion, was brought to life so Pygmalion and GAlatea could be married

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Rewritten

I have so thoroughly rewritten the article, now fully sourced and keeping more closely to the details in the sources, that I'll set the former version here, in case anyone feels that some former material has been overlooked. --Wetman 02:46, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

In Greek mythology, Galatea ("she who is milk-white") was the name of a Sicilian Nereid (i.e.: a sea-nymph) loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus. She, however, loved a Sicilian youth named Acis, whom Polyphemus killed with a boulder in a jealous rage. Distraught, Galatea turned his blood into the river Acis in Sicily. Galatea was essentially one of the fifty Sirens.

In the story from Roman mythology, she is often named as the statue of Pygmalion that was brought to life by Venus. Pygmalion was the king of an island called Cyprus. He was not only a wise ruler, but a gifted sculptor. He once sculpted a perfect maiden. He eventually fell in love with the statue. Praying to Venus that the ivory of the statue would turn to flesh, Pygmalion's wish was granted. They fell in love and were happily married. The story comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses; however, the statue is never actually named in Ovid's poem, and the name Galatea was given at some unknown later date.

Cited by John Gower in book II of his 'Confessio Amantis', which concerns the subject of Envy.

"the goddess of calm seas'

This addition is not a possible reading of Galatea. A confusion with Halcyon perhaps. I have had to restore the references and sources in Classical literature that were recently deleted. --Wetman 20:36, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

There are two possible etymologies for Galateia, from galaktos (milk), or from galana teia or galênê theia (goddess of the calm). Compare Psamatheia (the sand goddess).

I removed the Ovid reference as the source of the story. Greek writers such as Athenaeus attribute the original to Philoxenus of Cythera, a poet in the court of the Sicilian tyrant Dionysius. Theranos 20:56, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Theoi.com is generally an excellent repository, and it does assert that "Her name means either "Goddess of Calm Seas" or "Milky White". But the site gives no epithet "of calm seas" among its extensive quotes, and the phrase certainly can't be construed out of Galatea. Let us agree to omit this phrase for now, until we can find a usage to support it. But meanwhile, perhaps you'd care to expand the article to include the pre-Ovidian references that had escaped it! --Wetman 21:49, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

I've added the extra references ... not sure if the format is the best though. Please let me know! Galateia is also connected with [| Galene in the Smith Classics Dictionary]. The suffix -teia seems to mean goddess, as in other Nereid names: Amatheia, Psamathe, Leukotheia, Pasitheia, etc. WHere gala- comes from is debatable, but Hesiod has both a Galene (Calm-Sea) and a Galateia named as Nereids, just like he has a Hippo and Hippothoe (Horse-Swift), and a complimentary Nesiae and Neso (of Islands). So Galateia as Calm-Goddess does seem likely. I assume the reasoning for Galateia as Milky-White comes from the adjectival form of galaktos, galakteia?

Galatea the statue

Re the first line of the Galatea statue entry:

"Bibliotheke, the Hellenistic compendium of myth long attributed to Apollodorus, relates[3] the myth of the earlier milky-white Galatea"

Could this be reworded? Apollodorus never mentions the story of the statue, only this genealogy -

"This Cinyras in Cyprus, whither he had come with some people, founded Paphos; and having there married Metharme, daughter of Pygmalion, king of Cyprus, he begat Oxyporus and Adonis." Apollodorus 3.14

Ovid speaks of the statue, but he is simply retelling an older Greek or Cypriot tale. Also perhaps it worth emphasizing that the sculpted woman is never named by Galatea by any classical writer - the name being coined by a post-classical writer. Theranos 07:47, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Dropp[ed references

References to Ovid's Metamorphoses have been deleted twice. This is the former text (footnotes preserved in the html: "In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Galatea ("she who is milk-white") was the name of a Sicilian Nereid—a sea-nymph—yearned for by the Cyclops Polyphemus." I am removing this from my Watchlist: you're on your own. --Wetman 13:39, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

References

Vandals

This page was vandalized so I restored a previous version.

Confused

I'm confused about this article. The first line says that

"Galatea ("she who is milk-white") was the name of three figures in Greek mythology, the most well-known being the wife of Pygmalion."

Then later it says the wife of Galatea is not given a name in Greek mythology. Which is true? Is Galatea the wife of Pygmalion in Greek mythology or not? Thanks! --Lysianna 08:56, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

I've expanded the statement in order to make it clear and given references and notes. The fact is, the animated sculpture gained the name Galatea in the eighteenth century: today it passes for antique in the school textbooks. --Wetman 08:06, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

An axiom "challenged"!

"It also seems axiomatic, apart from miraculous intervention, that the living representative of a cult image could be none but the chief priestess."

Someone who didn't like this axiomatic statement of patently obvious incontrovertible fact, deleted it, with the challenge to "source" it! A moment's reflection: What other interpretation of "the living representative of a cult image" could be arrived at? A cute girl from a suburban high school? Somebody's sister-in-law, picked at random from the holiday crowd? The Duchess of Windsor? Can a sensible alternative be offered, within the normal constraints of ancient Greek culture? --Wetman 23:41, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

"The myth incontrovertibly indicates that a cult image of Aphrodite was instrumental in some way in the founding myth of Paphos".

Says who? Says you? Says Robert Graves? What is 'patently obvious' and 'incontrovertible' to one may not be to another. All I'm saying is that absent any source, reference or something, it looks like original research or the opinion of an editor. Zero sharp 23:16, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Syllogism A:

Paphos' tutelary goddess=Aprodite

Cult image=Representation of Aphrodite

Living representation of goddess=priestess

Thus "the living representative of a cult image could be none but the chief priestess." What other thought could be imagined?

The syllogism is inherent in the definitions of these terms. If the syllogism were incorrect, there would be an alternative, would there not? The syllogism would be disproved. So, in Paphos who is an alternative candidate, other than a priestess? At my end of life's long table, a nine-year old would be expected to comprehend this.

Statement B requires understanding the context of the statement. The normally-prepared reader is expected to recognize what a founding myth entails and to recognize an especially obvious one, in the cult image that comes to life and bears children who become progenitors of the rulers of Paphos. Is that over anyone's head? It's hard to imagine, even for those whose sharpness approaches zero. The rest of us notice that the statement does not even specify precisely what the role of the cult statue is, beyond what is patently obvious, that there's some connection in the fact that "a cult image of Aphrodite was instrumental in some way in the founding myth of Paphos"".

That exhausts my limited reserves. Can some adult more patient than I explain these statement on a simpler level? --Wetman 00:31, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Nothing further from me. Zero sharp 02:35, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

Emphasizing the association with Pygmalion is questionable

A problem with the thrust of the article is the claim that Galatea is most often associated with Pygmalion. Search classical sites on Google and you will always read about the relations with Polyphemus and Acis first, and sometimes the connection with Pygmalion is not even mentioned.

Look under art works, etc., and the Acis or Polyphemus connection will generally bring up more hits.

I clarified some of the language about no classical text mentioning her name. Sure, that is true, but only in terms of her connection with Pygmalion. DagorausWhear (talk) 00:46, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

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Merge with Pygmalion (mythology)?

This article has a convoluted history, but as it currently stands, it's about the statue that comes to life in the Pygmalion story. There's another mythological Galatea in the story of Acis and Galatea, who was formerly covered here, but is now covered in the story's article. Clearly the title Galatea (mythology) is incomplete disambiguation and needs to change. What if we merge it with Pygmalion (mythology)? The statue character is exclusively known from the Pygmalion story, and Pygmalion is almost exclusively know from this story as well. Additionally, "Galatia" for the statue woman only dates to the 18th century, it's not an ancient name for her.--Cúchullain ^t/c 14:49, 30 October 2018 (UTC)

Sea nymph?

This article seems to deal exclusively with Galatea from the myth of Pygmalion. There are other figures with the name "Galatea", notably the sea-nymph (Nereid) of that name mentioned in Homer's Iliad (II.18.45) and Hesiod's Theogony (250) (and described above in this talk page, as having been originally in this article). But all mention of her seems to have been removed since. It would be useful to readers to have a note somewhere about this other Galatea. Walrasiad (talk) 15:20, 20 February 2022 (UTC)