Galateia

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A figure from Greek mythology often associated with the sea, symbolizing beauty and love
2. In ancient lore, a goddess celebrated by sailors for her grace and charm
3. A legendary character frequently depicted in artistic works, representing ideals of feminine beauty and affection

Etymology: Galatea is the statue that Pygmalion carved in Ovid's "Metamorphoses," and the story turns on her coming to life. Pygmalion, a sculptor on Cyprus, was so disgusted by the women around him that he resolved never to marry. He carved an ivory figure of a woman so lifelike that he fell in love with it, dressed it, and laid it on a bed. At the festival of Venus he prayed for a wife like his statue, and when he returned home and kissed the ivory, it grew warm and soft under his fingers. The goddess had granted his wish. The name itself is Greek, from "galateia," meaning "milk-white" or "a milky, white one," from "gala," "milk." The name was not Ovid's invention for this figure; in Ovid she is unnamed, and "Galatea" appears in later tradition, notably in Philostratus's "Imagines" and in the Renaissance and later revivals of the myth. Because the name was attached to the statue only in later retellings, many modern readers assume the myth always named her.

Synonyms: mythological figure, nymph, water nymph, statue brought to life