Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Consider the source: Pygmalion

On the island of Cyprus, in ancient Greece, the daughters of Propoetus refused to worship Aphrodite. Incensed, the goddess of beauty made them the world's first hookers.

According to Ovid, the Roman poet, the oldest profession began when they "prostituted their bodies and their reputations in public, and losing all sense of shame, they lost the power to blush, as the blood hardened in their cheeks." And soon they turned to stone.

Pygmalion, sculptor and goldsmith, also lived at Amathus, on Cyprus. The daughters' sinful behavior repelled him so much that - assuming all women were alike - he chose to live "without a wife for a long time."

He became so lonely he sculpted a companion, "a statue of ivory, white as snow, and gave it a beauty surpassing that of any woman born."

When Michelangelo finished carving his Moses, it looked so real he kicked the marble and shouted, "now speak!"

When Pygmalion finished his statue, the "art concealed the art" so effectively he couldn't believe she was mere ivory. "He ran his hands over his creature to test whether it was real flesh and blood." His work was so perfect he feared "a bruise might appear as he pressed her close."

He brings her gifts - shells, smooth pebbles, "flowers of a thousand colors" - and clothes her like a toy doll, only to realize that "she looked no less beautiful naked."

His love became so ardent, he almost turned to stone.

At the festival of Aphrodite, every Cypriot made an offering. When his turn came, Pygmalion gave a quiet prayer: "If you gods are able to grant everything, I desire for my wife..."

Ovid hastens to add: "He did not dare to say, 'my ivory maiden.'"

A strange, slender "tongue of flame" rose from the altar and burned bright.

Pygmalion went home, lay next to the statue, and kissed it repeatedly. "She seemed to be warm" and somehow less rigid. He became "dubious of his joy and fearful he is wrong" - and losing his mind.

But she returns his kisses and "as she raises her eyes to meet his she sees both her lover and the sky."

Nine months later, they have a son, Paphos. But even after the child is born, she doesn't say a word. In fact, Ovid never lets her speak.

In later versions, and they are legion, the statue-woman becomes Galatea and always has her say. Local theater's offering two versions in January.

In Willy Russell's Educating Rita (North Coast Rep, January 12 through February 3), Pygmalion becomes Dr. Frank Bryant, an alcoholic university prof. who decides to tutor Rita, a working-class hairdresser, to fund his addiction to strong drink. Comedy ensues.

The Old Globe is staging George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (January 16 through February 17), where Professor Henry Higgins bets he can turn Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower-girl, into an "up market" socialite.

If these names sound familiar, Shaw's play was the basis for the musical My Fair Lady, in which once again Galatea turns the tables on her creator.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?

On the island of Cyprus, in ancient Greece, the daughters of Propoetus refused to worship Aphrodite. Incensed, the goddess of beauty made them the world's first hookers.

According to Ovid, the Roman poet, the oldest profession began when they "prostituted their bodies and their reputations in public, and losing all sense of shame, they lost the power to blush, as the blood hardened in their cheeks." And soon they turned to stone.

Pygmalion, sculptor and goldsmith, also lived at Amathus, on Cyprus. The daughters' sinful behavior repelled him so much that - assuming all women were alike - he chose to live "without a wife for a long time."

He became so lonely he sculpted a companion, "a statue of ivory, white as snow, and gave it a beauty surpassing that of any woman born."

When Michelangelo finished carving his Moses, it looked so real he kicked the marble and shouted, "now speak!"

When Pygmalion finished his statue, the "art concealed the art" so effectively he couldn't believe she was mere ivory. "He ran his hands over his creature to test whether it was real flesh and blood." His work was so perfect he feared "a bruise might appear as he pressed her close."

He brings her gifts - shells, smooth pebbles, "flowers of a thousand colors" - and clothes her like a toy doll, only to realize that "she looked no less beautiful naked."

His love became so ardent, he almost turned to stone.

At the festival of Aphrodite, every Cypriot made an offering. When his turn came, Pygmalion gave a quiet prayer: "If you gods are able to grant everything, I desire for my wife..."

Ovid hastens to add: "He did not dare to say, 'my ivory maiden.'"

A strange, slender "tongue of flame" rose from the altar and burned bright.

Pygmalion went home, lay next to the statue, and kissed it repeatedly. "She seemed to be warm" and somehow less rigid. He became "dubious of his joy and fearful he is wrong" - and losing his mind.

But she returns his kisses and "as she raises her eyes to meet his she sees both her lover and the sky."

Nine months later, they have a son, Paphos. But even after the child is born, she doesn't say a word. In fact, Ovid never lets her speak.

In later versions, and they are legion, the statue-woman becomes Galatea and always has her say. Local theater's offering two versions in January.

In Willy Russell's Educating Rita (North Coast Rep, January 12 through February 3), Pygmalion becomes Dr. Frank Bryant, an alcoholic university prof. who decides to tutor Rita, a working-class hairdresser, to fund his addiction to strong drink. Comedy ensues.

The Old Globe is staging George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (January 16 through February 17), where Professor Henry Higgins bets he can turn Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower-girl, into an "up market" socialite.

If these names sound familiar, Shaw's play was the basis for the musical My Fair Lady, in which once again Galatea turns the tables on her creator.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Innocent Until Proven Guilty/fiction and poetry

Next Article

Unhappy Mother's Day

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader