Pygmalion's Statue

On the island of Cyprus lived a man called Pygmalion. Pygmalion was a sculptor, and many people said that he was the best sculptor in the world. He made most of his money by making statues for the many temples on the shores of Cyprus. He was a successful man and lived in one of the largest houses in his village, but he was alone. All of the mothers of the island wanted to marry their daughters off to him because he was both famous and rich. The young women of the island would often visit Pygmalion's house and bring him gifts, but Pygmalion was very particular. He was never pleased with the women he met, and thought they were not beautiful and perfect enough for him. All the young women on the island had tried to win him as a husband, but he rejected them all. This made the women upset. Why didn't this man want to marry and start a family? There wasn't anything wrong with them! One day, all the young women of Cyprus went to the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and prayed that Pygmalion would take a wife. High up in heaven, Aphrodite heard their prayers and decided to answer their wishes.

One night after a hard day's work, Pygmalion got into bed. Moonlight came in through his window and filled the room with soft light. Suddenly he heard a voice, but could see no person. It was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. "You have upset the women of this island, Pygmalion," it said.

Pygmalion jumped out of bed, and the goddess Aphrodite appeared before him. She was tall and light seemed to come from inside her. She was so beautiful that Pygmalion could hardly breathe. As he looked at her, his body felt like it was on fire. He sat staring at the goddess before him and did not move or speak.

"The women of the island have prayed to me—they wish you to take a wife. In answer to their prayer, I will make this so, but since you are a great artist and have always honored the gods, I will let you choose any woman you want. Any woman on this island shall be yours; you need only say her name."

Pygmalion tried to speak, but his voice was not much louder than a whisper because of his wonder at the goddess. "I have no desire for a wife."

Aphrodite sat down on one knee and looked deep into his eyes. As he looked into her eyes, he understood what true love was for the first time in his life. Then Aphrodite spoke again, "You are being given a gift that no other man has had, Pygmalion. You may choose any woman, and she will be yours."

Pygmalion could not say "no" to the goddess, but he could not imagine taking a wife now that he had seen the beauty of Aphrodite. Suddenly, he had an idea, "I will choose a wife," he said, "but first I wish to complete one last statue. When it is finished, I shall make my choice."

Aphrodite smiled and again Pygmalion's heart felt like it was on fire. "You may create your last statue; I will return when it is complete."

Aphrodite then turned to leave, but Pygmalion stopped her, "Wait! Please, goddess, I wish that you model for my statue. All the beautiful things in the world together are still not as beautiful as you. I want this last statue to be the greatest I have ever made; I wish it to be the most beautiful thing created by a man's hands."

Aphrodite was pleased to hear such sweet words and nodded her head. "I will model for you, Pygmalion. I will return here every night at this time until the statue is complete. When it is finished, I will hear your choice for a wife."

Aphrodite then kissed Pygmalion's forehead and disappeared. Her kiss made his whole body feel warm. When he turned around towards his bed, a single red rose lay on his pillow.

Aphrodite returned the next evening as she had promised, and the two of them began to work on the statue. Pygmalion began by making small models of the goddess sitting before him. Night after night, Aphrodite came and more small models were made. Soon there were one hundred models; each one was amazing and beautiful. There seemed to be a part of the goddess in every one of them; the shape and expression of each one was perfect. Aphrodite was very pleased with all of the models. "I wish to give you a gift, Pygmalion," she said and disappeared.

Aphrodite first went to see Hephaestus, the god of metal, and asked him to make tools from the strongest metals that would always be sharp. Having done this, she then flew to see the goddess of the earth, Gaia, and asked for the purest piece of rock that existed in any part of the world. The earth goddess gave it to her and Aphrodite brought it to Pygmalion. It was placed in the center of his house.

"You may now begin your last statue, Pygmalion." Aphrodite whispered in his ear. "I shall return when it is finished." The goddess then disappeared.

Once the goddess was gone, Pygmalion picked up his hammer and began working. First he made a basic model of the statue by removing all of the unnecessary pieces of rock. Then he began working on the smaller pieces. He worked all through the night; the hammer was like a part of his arm and every cut he made was strong and true. Even though every muscle in his body began to hurt, he kept working. An entire week passed, during which Pygmalion only stopped working to eat and sleep for short periods.

After this week, the statue was finally done. He stepped back and stared at his work to see if there were any places that needed to be improved. There were none; his work was perfect! He stood with his mouth open, unable to take his eyes off the beauty of the stone woman he had made. Her arms were reaching out, as if they were searching for a person to hold.

She was not wearing any clothes, and her body was only covered by her extremely long hair. When Pygmalion finally turned away from the statue, he saw Aphrodite standing there.

"It is truly beautiful, Pygmalion. I am very pleased." She smiled. "Now it is time that you chose a wife."

Pygmalion stepped forward; "I chose her, my statue." He stepped up to the statue and put his arms around the rock. "This woman is the only thing that I shall ever be able to love. If I cannot have her in life, then I wish to become rock as well and stand in her arms for the rest of time." Pygmalion looked into the statue's eyes and kissed the cold stone lips.

Aphrodite's heart was moved by his words. She picked up the red rose that she had left her first night in Pygmalion's house and touched it to the hair of the statue. Suddenly, the lips of the statue became warm beneath Pygmalion's, and the hard arms bent and held him. What was once cold, hard stone was now warm flesh and blood! Aphrodite had given him the love that he had chosen, thus fulfilling her promise.

"I have given you your wish, Pygmalion. Before you stand your true love, a piece of your own work, your art. Be good to each other and forever remember this gift I have given each of you." Aphrodite then smiled and disappeared.

Pygmalion stared at his new wife with eyes full of tears. She smiled back at him with a smile just like Aphrodite's.

(end of section)