Galatea the Nereid Nymph

In Greek mythology, Galatea was a Nereid nymph, one of the many daughters of the sea god Nereus. Most people tend to think of Galatea as a statue that was brought to life by the goddess Aphrodite. However, two Galateas are said to be two completely different characters in Greek mythology: one a nymph and the other a statue.

Known as the goddess of the calm seas, Galatea is one of the minor characters in Greek mythology, appearing in very few myths. She’s known mostly for the role she played in one specific myth: the story of Acis and Galatea.

Galatea and Acis
The story of Galatea and Acis, a mortal shepherd, took place on the island of Sicily. Galatea spent most of her time on the island shores and when she first saw Acis, she was curious about him. She observed him for several days and before she realized it, she had fallen in love with him. Acis, who thought she was divinely beautiful, subsequently fell in love with her as well.

The island of Sicily was the home of the Cyclopes and Polyphemus, the most famous of them, had fallen in love with the goddess of the calm seas as well. Polyphemus was an ugly giant with a single huge eye in the middle of his forehead and Galatea, who thought him unsightly, rejected him at once when he expressed his love to her. This made Polyphemus angry and he was jealous of the relationship between Galatea and Acis. He decided to get rid of his competition and chased Acis, picking up a large stone and crushing him to death with it.

Galatea was overcome with grief and mourned for her lost love. She decided to create a memorial to Acis that would stand for eternity. She did this by creating a river from his blood. The river flowed around the famous Mount Etna and ran straight into the Mediterranean sea which she called ‘River Acis’.

There are several renditions of this story. According to some sources, Galatea was enamoured by Polyphemus’ love and attention. In these versions, he’s described not as an ugly giant but as someone who was kind, sensitive, good-looking and was able to woo her.

Sculptures of Galatea
There are many statues that feature Galatea but there have been incidents where people have mistaken her for Pygmalion’s statue, also named Galatea. The main difference between the two is that the nymph Galatea is typically depicted along with sea imagery including dolphins, shells and tritons.