Renaissance painting (16th century) depicting Galatea. Villa
Farnesina, Rome, Italy. Click on image for full size Image
courtesy of Photodisc, Inc. All rights reserved. Images provided
by (c) 1995 Fototeca Storica Nazionale. Many features of the
Earth are named after mythological figures. An example is the
story of Galatea's love for a young beautiful shepherd called
Acis. He was the son of Pan .Galatea lived in the sea
surrounding the island of Sicily where she met several times one
of the Cyclopes, the monstrous one-eyed Polyphemus. Polyphemus
was in love with Galatea and was unable to control his jealousy
of Acis. Once Polyphemus caught Galatea and Acis asleep on a
grassy mound. He killed the small shepherd with a huge rock.
Acis' blood formed a small stream on the Heartbroken, Galatea
turned it into a stream of water that bears Acis' name. Because
Galatea was a sea-nymph and attendant of the sea-god Poseidon,
her name had been given to one of the moons of the planet
Neptune. Shop Windows to the Universe S