Madeline Miller really has a great way of bringing to life this ancient setting and weaving the myths we know and have read with her own thoughts, filling in the blanks, sometimes changing a few details in the process. Galatea seems jealous (or more likely, unsettled and worried for this girl’s future, if it’s anything like her own). The power of her words to create a fully living woman was like the power of the sculptor to create the fully realized woman, Galatea.

Galatea is a reimagined, retelling of sorts taking inspiration the myth of Pygmalion among other things. This is a brief story, easily read in a sitting, but it is such an excellent analysis of the original tale via a new narrative. I loved the authors note at the end which explained her inspiration from Pygmalion - a story referred to by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. Galatea,” with its attractive midnight-blue cover and gold-embossed lettering, will look at home on many a BookTok bookshelf, where aesthetics are often a way into literature, and deep feeling a way through it. Although I found Circe less mind-blowing than I did The Song of Achilles, I will still follow Madeline Miller anywhere.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. Galatea is a short story written by Madeline Miller that is a retelling of the story of Galatea and Pygmalion.

An enchanting short story from Madeline Miller that boldly reimagines the myth of Galatea and Pygmalion. Galatea is the sculptured statue of seemingly the most beautiful woman who is brought to life by the man who created and became obsessed with her. Miller's ability to breathe new life into a well-known myth and infuse it with modern feminist sensibilities is truly commendable. The story centers around Galatea, a character who is often silenced and overlooked in the original myth. They worry about how pale she is, but as Galatea responds, she’s always this colour: “Because I used to be made of stone.In literally 20 little pages, she's made me fall in love with a new character, reminded me of a myth long lost in my memories, and reminded me of the woes of being a woman. I love how independent she is and how she thinks of her daughter before herself, while the sculptor thinks only of himself. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. We will process the refund due to you as soon as possible and, in any case within thirty (30) days of the day we confirm via e-mail that you are entitled to a refund for defective goods. I knew it was a short story so perhaps some nice illustrations so we feel we are getting more for our hard earned money.

The goods do not need to be in their original packaging however in a sellable condition, and at your own cost and risk. But Galatea isn’t willing to give up, so she hatches a plan to escape and exact revenge on her despicable husband. Miller’s approach to the story by placing us in the mind of Galatea makes her existence less romanticized by showing how concepts of ownership and expectations of beauty are stifling to her. Taking that in mind, was I honestly meant to believe that, with a misogynistic and revolting motivation as that, he would have treated his "perfect" woman in any other way than what this story showed us? Galatea feigns obedience all the while keenly observing her surroundings and planning her next move, ultimately leading to a shocking climax.As a reader you can’t help but feel sorry for Galatea who never had any say on her life from the moment Pygmalion carved her and you can see how she suffers.

However her husband doesn’t anticipate her coming to life with feelings and opinions - how inconvenient. She handles her husband’s abuses with an impassive stoicism that reads as strength rather than stoniness, because she feels strongly toward her daughter (and hides well her disgust with Pygmalion). This is a story by Madeline Miller we're talking about here, author of the brilliant novels Circe and The Song of Achilles. There was nothing more satisfying than reading about her holding him tightly in place with her marble strength as they both sunk underwater and she watched him drown slowly, imagined him being feasted on by the aquatic life as she was left intact (because she's marble).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. This pocket-sized short story is an offering – for those who long for more from Madeline Miller following The Song of Achilles and Circe – that satisfies an itch in its succinct fifty pages.