Pygmalion and Galatea

Pygmalion discovered that prudishness is not the same as purity.

Introduction

Pygmalion assumed that Aphrodite, goddess of pure love, would bless a romance free from fleshly passion, but he had misunderstood the true meaning of purity.

SOON after Orpheus wedded Eurydice, his cherished wife died, and could not be restored to life; and he grieved for her, singing to the accompaniment of his lyre.

One of his songs was of Pygmalion of Cyprus.

Disgusted by the daughters of Propoetus, who had mocked Aphrodite and fallen into prostitution, Pygmalion fashioned for himself the one woman of perfect, unsullied purity: a statue in milk-white marble.

Pygmalion dressed it in fine linen, and hung jewels upon it, and named it Galatea. But if he kissed its lips, they were cold as any stone.

It was on Aphrodite’s feast day that Pygmalion at last begged her to give his idol the one perfection that he himself could not. One more time Pygmalion kissed the cold lips, he reached out and touched the unyielding skin: and found her soft, and warm.

So sang Orpheus; but Eurydice was still cold as any stone.

Based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
Précis
Pygmalion wanted a pure love worthy of Aphrodite, so he made himself a marble statue of a woman. He realized eventually that there is no true love without risk, however, so he begged Aphrodite to bring the statue to life, and she granted his wish.
Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Pygmalion made a statue. He named it Galatea. It was in female form.

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