Galatea

Fresco of Polyphemus and GalateaPolyphemus and Galatea in a landscape, Roman fresco from the imperial villa of Agrippa Postumus at Boscotrecase, Italy, last decade of the 1st century bce; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Galatea
GalateaPlate depicting the triumph of Galatea, tin-glazed earthenware from Urbino, Italy, c. 1550–75; in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Galatea, in Greek mythology, a Nereid who was loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus. Galatea, however, loved the youth Acis. When Polyphemus discovered Acis and Galatea together, he crushed Acis to death with a boulder. Galatea is also the name, in some versions of the Pygmalion story, of the statue that Pygmalion creates and then falls in love with.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Virginia Gorlinski.
Citation Information
Article Title: Galatea
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 17 April 2017
Access Date: November 13, 2026