Pygmalion

American  

[pig-mey-lee-uhn, -meyl-yuhn] / pɪgˈmeɪ li ən, -ˈmeɪl yən /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a sculptor and king of Cyprus who carved an ivory statue of a maiden and fell in love with it. It was brought to life, in response to his prayer, by Aphrodite.

2. (italics) a comedy (1912) by George Bernard Shaw.

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Pygmalion British  

/ pɪɡˈmeɪlɪən /

noun

1. Greek myth a king of Cyprus, who fell in love with the statue of a woman he had sculpted and which his prayers brought to life as Galatea

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Pygmalion ¹ Cultural  

1. In classical mythology, a sculptor who at first hated women but then fell in love with a statue he made of a woman. He prayed to Venus that she would find him a woman like the statue. Instead, Venus made the statue come to life.

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Pygmalion ² Cultural  

1. A play by George Bernard Shaw, about a professor, Henry Higgins, who trains a poor, uneducated girl, Eliza Doolittle, to act and speak like a lady. Shaw based his story on a tale from Greek mythology about a sculptor who carves a statue of a woman and falls in love with it (see under “Mythology and Folklore”).

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Discover More

The play Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw, adapts this theme: a professor trains a girl from the gutter to speak and behave like a lady, and then he and his new creation become attached to each other. This play became the basis for the musical comedy My Fair Lady.

Example Sentences

The pre-Virgilian sources suggest that Dido’s brother, Pygmalion, killed her husband and usurped the throne.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

He performed the role of Eliza Doolittle from Shaw's play Pygmalion, and the part of Cesario in Twelfth Night - not realising the part was female character Viola disguised in male clothing.

From BBC • Nov. 2, 2024

Having been friend-zoned, Penelope doesn’t try to include herself in the pool of excited maids throwing themselves at him, enlisting him to play Pygmalion and provide her charm lessons instead.

From Salon • May 17, 2024

You can imagine the Pygmalion myth resonating with Lanthimos, and not just because he’s Greek.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 1, 2023

The story of Pygmalion and Galatea is an example; it has no conceivable connection with any event in nature.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton