ABSTRACT
There are countless stories of pushy tennis parents and, with Wimbledon upon us, there will doubtless be more in the coming days. Some of these parents—in extreme cases—may be likened to Pygmalion. Ovid’s story of Pygmalion depicts him as a sculptor who has carved a beautiful woman in ivory. Disillusioned and repelled by the sight of women prostituting themselves, Pygmalion falls in love with his perfect creation and prays to Aphrodite to bring her to life. As the myth suggests, Pygmalion needed to create an image of a perfect woman, untarnished by failings and without her own will and her own sexuality, as an antidote to his repulsion and disillusion with women whom he associated with prostitution. The Williams sisters’ father, Richard Williams, is also well known for his aggressive behaviour during the matches, especially aimed at his daughters’ opponents.
