ABSTRACT
Daughter of Nereus and Doris. Her name means ‘milk-white’. She lived in the sea off Sicily, where the Cyclops Polyphemus pastured his flocks of sheep and goats. He became infatuated with her and pursued her. But Galatea, who preferred a young shepherd called Acis, a son of Pan and of the nymph Simaethis, spurned the overtures of Polyphemus, detesting his hideous appearance. Polyphemus was furiously jealous of Acis, but his grotesque serenades were merely mocked by the young pair. One day, catching them asleep together on a grassy bank, the Cyclops woke them and pursued Acis, picking up a huge boulder and crushing him beneath it. The broken-hearted Galatea caused a spring of water to issue from beneath the boulder, and made Acis into the god of the stream. In another version of the story there was no Acis, and Polyphemus, with his songs and piping, finally won the nymph’s heart.
