In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the story of “Pygmalion” has often been interpreted as a fatuous and humorous display of human devotion. One feels great sympathy for the main character as he falls in love with the beautiful statue of his creation. The statue is his perfect, ideal lover, showering it with gifts and affection. What makes the story even more powerful is the fact that Pygmalion has stayed abstinent and even celibate from the world of love. He has shunned women most of his life, due to his misgivings about their motives. The promiscuous and sinful ways of Cyprus women has left a bitter taste in his mouth.
When reading this work of Ovid, Pygmalion’s love affair can be interpreted as somewhat pitiful and moving but bordering on disturbing. While my vision for an adaptation will have these elements, its central focus revolves around the somberness of Pygmalion’s situation rather than any of the sardonic comicalities that exist in Ovid. In this theatrical adaptation, of “Pygmalion”, Pygmalion is now the ‘object’ of one’s affections as we see the story of love and yearning, but through the stone-etched eyes of Pygmalion’s work of art.
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Pygmalion's Lover
FantasyI wrote "Pygmalion's Lover" for an English course where we were required to write an adaptation of a Greek/Roman mythological story in play form. I decided to write my paper on the Greek myth of "Pygmalion", being drawn to its peculiar take on obses...
