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Essay / Denial and obsession in The Myth of Pygmalion and Galatea
Pygmalion did not like women and blamed them for everything. So, instead of finding a real wife, he decided to make one for himself. Pygmalion carved a woman out of ivory who he thought was even more beautiful than any living woman could ever be. He dressed this woman in ivory and gave her gifts, taking her as his wife. Once the feast of Venus arrived, Pygmalion prayed to the goddess to bring him a wife who resembled her ivory statue, even though the goddess knew he meant that he wanted her ivory statue to be his only and only wife. Venus heard his prayer and brought the statue to life. Once he returned home, Pygmalion kissed his wife, finding her warm and alive, and he could not have been more delighted. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThe conflict between Pygmalion and Galatea is Pygmalion's denial and obsession. Pygmalion distances himself from women and decides he's just had enough of them, but he clearly wants a love interest so much that he makes one for himself instead of trying to find a real woman. After Pygmalion denies all women, he becomes obsessed with the "perfect" ivory statue he made to be his own wife. It is not revealed what the women did that upset Pygmalion so much that he abandoned them all together, but it does reveal how he deals with conflict. This story immediately reminds me of Narcissus. Like Pygmalion, he is obsessed with something or someone; however, instead of an inanimate object, he falls in love with his own reflection. Narcissus refuses all his suitors, thinking that none is good enough for him, and Pygmalion completely turns away from all women, thinking that the only thing that is enough for him is a wife that he can make for himself with the help of 'a goddess. These stories seem to parallel each other in more ways than one, showing how allusions to Greek mythology can also be linked to each other..