Galatea: A Short Story

Madeline Miller

Aug 2013 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

In Ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece – the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen – the gift of life. Now his wife, Galatea is expected to be obedience and humility personified, but it is not long before she learns to use her beauty as a form of manipulation. In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, she is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost...

Pygmalion's story has moved millions through the centuries, inspiring George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, and later the beloved musical My Fair Lady.  Ecco is proud to publish Orange Prize-winning author Madeline Miller’s E-book original short story Galatea which will appear in the forthcoming anthology xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths to be published in October. This retelling of the Pygmalion myth from the statue’s perspective is a tale that will make readers rethink how they relate to the great myths of our time.

Ratings and reviews

It's was a chilling account of an all too popular myth/trope. It was truly hard to read because of how stifling and violent the tone was. Madeline Miller can always be trusted to bring beautiful and painful stories to life.

I wish I had known up front that it was a short story. I world have saved my money since I really don't like short stories. Otherwise, the retelling was well done, just not worth any money for me.

I hate how Pygmalion is depicted as abusive to Galatea and an uncaring father to Paphos. Not a retelling I can say I quite cared for.

About the author

Madeline Miller is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two novels: The Song of Achilles, which won the Orange Women’s Prize for Fiction 2012, and Circe, which was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019. Her books have been translated into over thirty two languages. Miller holds an MA in Classics from Brown University, studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms, and taught Latin, Greek, and Shakespeare to high school students for over a decade.