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Galatea

 
Dictionary: Gal·a·te·a   (găl'ə-tē'ə) pronunciation
n.
  1. Greek Mythology. A maiden who was originally a statue carved by Pygmalion and who was brought to life by Aphrodite in answer to the sculptor's pleas.
  2. The satellite of Neptune that is fourth in distance from the planet.

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Galatēa (Galateia, ‘milk-white’), Greek sea-nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris. The story of her wooing by the ugly Cyclops Polyphemus was frequently told, by the bucolic poets (Theocritus, Idyll 11; Virgil, Eclogue 9; Ovid, Metamorphoses 13); and by the early eighteenth-century English poet John Gay in his libretto to Handel's Acis and Galatea. Ovid tells how she loved a young shepherd Acis but was discovered by Polyphemus who hurled a rock at him. As it fell Galatea turned Acis into a river which henceforth bore his name. A later story made her bear a son to Polyphemus who became the eponymous ancestor of the Gauls (‘Galatians’; see below).

 
in Greek mythology
in astronomy

Galatea (gălətē'ə), in Greek mythology.

1 Sea nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris. She was loved by the brutish Polyphemus, a Cyclops who wooed her with love songs; but Galatea loved Acis, the handsome son of a river nymph. When Polyphemus discovered them together, he crushed the youth under a huge boulder. In response to his pitiful cries, Galatea turned Acis into a river.

2 See Pygmalion b>1.

Galatea, in astronomy, one of the natural satellites, or moons, of Neptune.


Wikipedia: Galatea
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Contents

Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white", most notably referring to:

Galatea or Galathea may also refer to:

Art

Entertainment

Animation, anime and manga

Gaming

Film

  • Galatea Film, an Italian film production company, distributor of The Lovemakers (film)

Literature

Fictional characters

Science

Astronomy

Biology

Geography

Transport

  • HMS Galatea (disambiguation), eight ships of the British Royal Navy
  • THV Galatea, two ships operated by Trinity House
  • Galatea (yacht), the 1886 America's Cup challenger
  • Galatea, launched in 1896 as the Glenlee (ship), a training tall ship of the Spanish Navy from 1922-1969
  • Galatea (locomotive), a preserved example of the LMS Jubilee class of steam locomotive
  • Galatea , Automobile design and bodywork firm based out of Princeton NJ

Theatre


Best of the Web: Galatea
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Some good "Galatea" pages on the web:


Greek Mythology
www.pantheon.org
 
 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Classical Literature Companion. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Copyright © 1993, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Galatea" Read more