Galatea is a Nereid nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris. In Ovid's Metamorphoses she loved the Sicilian river-god Acis; when the Cyclops Polyphemus killed him, she transformed Acis into the river that bears his name. She is distinct from Galatea, the name later applied to Pygmalion's statue.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Galatea (mythology)" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Mythology
Hesiod, Homer, and Apollodorus name Galatea among the Nereids. Ovid gives her a speaking role in the love-triangle with Acis and Polyphemus on Sicily.
The Pygmalion statue named Galatea belongs to a separate Roman tradition and is not identified with this Nereid in the ancient Greek sources used here.
AT A GLANCE
Greek nameGalateia (Γαλάτεια)
Roman nameGalatea
Typenymph
Domainsthe lovely Nereid · beloved of Acis · Sicilian sea · Polyphemus' jealousy
ParentageNereus · Doris
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