Week 2: Reading Anthology

Pygmalion priant Vénus d'animer sa statue by Jean-Baptiste Regnault. 

Reading Notes:

       My favorite of the assigned readings was the story of Pygmalion. I have always had a fascination with the story, it has always felt so intriguing to me. Of course, I am most familiar with the theatrical rendition by George Bernard Shaw, and the being a literature buff, the connection with Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale had me excited to read Ovid's tale. But the mythology basis is captivating, nonetheless. In essence, Pygmalion was a Cypriot sculptor who carved a woman out of ivory. He had sworn off women, asserting he was no longer interested due to prostitution, etc. but due to his own sculptures' beauty and realistic nature, he found himself in love with his own creation. Pygmalion prayed at Aphrodite's altar for a woman in the same likeness as his creation, as he was too afraid to admit his true desire for the statue. When he returned home, he kissed the ivory statue on its lips and found that she was warm to the touch, then found she was no longer as hard as a statue. He realized that Venus had granted his wish for a wife. The pair went on to have a child, but some renditions change whether they had a son or a daughter. In Ovid, they had a daughter and named her Paphos. I truly enjoyed reading this tale, I had been looking for an excuse to read the original story since there are so many literary references to Pygmalion, I had just never gotten around to it until now. There is something so exciting about being "in the know" about vague references in literature. It is almost like a secret between you and the text, so I really enjoyed gaining a better understanding of Pygmalion's story. Overall, I really enjoyed all of the readings for this assignment, and I am excited to continue reading more folklore and mythologies with the coming weeks.

Basic Bibliography:
Ovid: Metamorphosis - Pygmalion