Pygmalion Anaylisis

Hey guys! Adventure Van here with another one of my College Papers!

Pygmalion is a myth included in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It’s a story about a sculptor named Pygmalion, who grows to detest all of the women who “lead their shameful lives and vices Nature has given the female disposition only too often.” That’s the second two lines. The rest of the myth follows suit, which the man then decides himself too good for womankind, devotes himself to his craft, and creates such a ‘beautiful woman’ from a statue that he falls in love with it. The festival of Venus comes along, and “timidly Pygmalion made offering, and prayed: ‘If you can give all things, O gods, I pray my wife may be- (He almost said, my ivory girl, but dared not) - one like my ivory girl’. And golden Venus wast there, and understood the prayer’s intention, and showed her presence… Pygmalion came back where the maiden lay, and lay beside her, and kissed her, and she seemed to glow, and kissed her, and stroked her breast, and felt the ivory soften under his fingers…” and more detailed describing that would very likely reach above PG-13 ratings. He then has a daughter with this statue, and that’s the end of the story. There’s nothing else.

I have chosen this mythos to dissect using the five layers due to both the interesting past of the myth, as well as what associations it has with our modern day society. It is an interesting story with a multitude of places to dive into it despite a low page count (only two pages long). As already stated, it’s part of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Citation 1) as well, which is a collection made by the Romans of Grecian myths about change, meaning the original material was very possible to have been changed to fit viewpoints of the collectors. However, it still will be a solid source for the material of the myth, as no original copy exists to my knowledge.

 Layer One:

The very beginning is talking about how Pygmalion has grown completely fed up with women and how they are all whores and sluts who have no decency. This very likely is going to be a reflection of how the author of the myth felt about the female gender in a negative light. The myth does center on how horrible women are and only gods and a man’s creation are really good women. Especially with how the creation, granted sentience, is basically forced into a relationship with this man during the same second she came into being. It helps solidify the Greek’s relationship with how women were items to be tossed around, in this case literally. The poor woman isn’t even given a name.

It’s easy to see how this reflects on the Roman culture as well. As much as the Romans had a more progressive standpoint, they still had this very sexist and misogynistic myth being given a high standing among the rest of Metamorphoses, a critical collection of other important Grecian myths. Obviously, seeing how other minor details have been nudged in other tales in the book, there was little to no effort done by Ovid or other translators to edit the tale into a more positive light on the statue.

Layer Two:

Apparently, the couple had a daughter of the name Paphos. This is mentioned more as a footnote then an actual character. I couldn’t find an actual myth about her, but she is credited with being the reason that the island of Paphos was named (Citation 2). This seems more of a throwaway comment, but it’s the only real reason this myth has for existing. There is no moral, no lasting consequence of the tale except for this. Wikipedia claims that the couple birthed a son as well, who has had even less importance and anything about him (Citation 3). It helps cement how this tale is made not to explain anything but simply to say how this one man escaped from the grips of womankind.

Layer Three:

Venus is the Grecian god of love, and is also responsible for the enlivenment of the statue. She obviously condoned this relationship, otherwise she wouldn’t have brought the statue to life in the first place, meaning that despite being the goddess of love, she worked to please Pygmalion. Pygmalion had shut himself off completely from women kind and was kind of a sexist about it, so the fact that Venus bent the rules for someone who actively tried to stay out of her domain felt out of character. However, seeing how this feels less like a focus on the gods and more a fantasy of what a man feels entitled too, it makes sense that the idea of religion would play a secondary role and not have nearly as much sense as the rest of the story.

There is also the supernatural effect of turning a statue into a real human that’s not mentioned in the slightest. The man is so devout in his wish and prayers that Venus just agrees and brings the statue to life. The statue, upon becoming human, isn’t anything more but a glorified toy for the sculpture, never getting a name or any mention beyond sex. Despite the probable many consequences of bringing a creation to life from the supernatural that’s said to be a full human, it’s simply brushed under the rug for the sake of story.

Layer Four:

The idea of an old man attempting and succeeding to seduce or even just feel justified to have access to a younger female has always been around, especially as trophy wives. My Fair Lady and She’s All That are both prime examples of this, but it’s very apparent in a relationship that actually came out very recently. A 63 year old male artist married a 22 female one and then acted surprised when their families were disgusted (including the man’s children, who were older than the bride by 6 years) (Citation 4). He justifies it that it’s not like his wife is intellectually inferior. And this is just an extreme case. Many famous actors change their wives or significant others out for younger women while they grow progressively older. However, this is an occurrence almost entirely exclusive to men, not women. It’s a dangerous double standard which has always been in this species.

Layer Five:

From a modern perspective, it’s easily comparable to the fantasies of involuntarily celibates, also known as Incels. It fits in completely with their worldview of women, whom are all sluts who attempt to up their status by sleeping with those who are not the Incels. Incels would likely gravitate to the idea of creating a beautiful, obedient, nameless wife for them very easily, and it’s a shame to see them having the same ideals as the Grecian males of old. Some actually do associate themselves with cults of that time period as well, so it’s not too much to stretch the relationship between the two groups.

All in all, this story is not about teaching a lesson. Nor is it about explaining why something is as it is, or even just for enjoyment. It’s made to downgrade women and almost get into eroticism. And it’s put in with so many other powerful, important pieces of fable as an equal. As much as it is isolated, it’s not impressive, it helps give context and a look into the mindset of both the Grecian and Roman communities. It also helps us see that even now in our modern day, there would be those who’d agree with the idea of having a mindless, nameless trophy wife, and there likely always will be. It’s important to make sure that everyone stays equal and that preconceived notions aren’t as bad as stated in this myth if we ever want to strive for true equality.

Bibliography:

1.Ovid, and Rolfe Humphries. Metamorphoses, Tr. by Rolfe Hemphries. Indiana U.P., 1955.

2.“Paphos.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Apr. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paphos.

3.“Pygmalion (Mythology).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_(mythology).

4.Oberman, Jeffrey, and Jeffrey Oberman. “I'm 63. She's 22. Here's What Most People Get Wrong About Our Marriage.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 8 May 2019, www.huffpost.com/entry/intergenerational-marriage_n_5cd0598ee4b04e275d4dffcd?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKCLh1qvJJ0PQf-RxThE_1X1SdGA5nswYhamcwa7hVHsTZPm9WpGvYlPnmeLa7wGAXAUPNIMq8oqlcmI4jZ394eH9vI_xcwMUYYYnDg-6xfEXklhUz-gNxmkcOpa1yHYxDo1OTMAhYPKEpyFYm3qvX5FXRA9NCCXs8FpIY3tz1jA.