Pygmalion was a young sculptor from Cyprus. He did not like women and thought they were wicked and stupid, but he loved making statues of them. He may have been trying to create the perfect woman, who could not exist in real life.
There was one statue that he worked on for long, and with such inspiration, that it became more beautiful than any woman that had ever lived or been carved in stone.
As he worked on the statue's features, they became exquisitely lovely, and he found himself hammering and carving with increasing affection. When he finally finished the statue, there stood such a perfect woman that Pygmalion fell deeply in love.

His statue did not seem to be made of stone, but of flesh. In desperate anger he embraced the cold marble girl. It was ironic that this man, who had hated and despised women, should fall in love with a woman who could never love him in return!
He tried to pretend that she was real and dressed her in fine clothes, and brought her flowers and gifts, but he was terribly unhappy.

The goddess of love, Aphrodite, felt sorry for the young man and, when he went to her temple, she gave him a sign, and Pygmalion went home, wondering what the sign meant. When he entered his studio and saw Galatea, he ran to his statue and embraced it.
Did he seem warm to his touch or was it just the heat from the sun that had warmed the stone? he stood back and looked at her. He watched in amazement as Galatea began to move.
She turned towards him and smiled, and, as soon as she saw him, she stepped off her pedestal into his arms.
The goddess Aphrodite herself attended their wedding.