Pygmalion and Galatea

Pygmalion (Πυγμαλίων) was the king of Cyprus, and was the father of Metharme. Pygmalion had married his daughter to Cinyas. Not much was known about Pygmalion until Ovid decided to write a romantic theme about the king. Instead of being a king, Ovid made Pygmalion into a young sculptor from Cyprus.

Pygmalion could not find any mortal woman he wanted to marry. Pygmalion began carving a shape in marble of his ideal woman. This sculpture became his obsession. When he had finished, Pygmalion had made the perfect woman, both in beauty and grace. Pygmalion would dress the statue in a fine dress each morning. Pygmalion had fallen madly in love with the beautiful statue, which he named Galatea (Γαλάτεια).

Pygmalion began to despair when he could find no woman to match the beauty of the statue he had created. Pygmalion prayed to Aphrodite to help him find a woman who looked like his statue. Aphrodite answered the sculptor's prayer.

One day, Pygmalion kissed the statue on the lips. He found to his astonishment that the lips gradually became soft and warm. Gradually, the entire marble became flesh and bone. Galatea had become a living person.

Pygmalion married Galatea and became the father of a daughter named Paphos. And, oh yeah. They lived happily ever after.

Depending on the sources, Pygmalion was either grandfather or father-in-law of Cinyras.