Galatea was the daughter of
Nereus and Doris, and as Handel's opera reminds us she was loved by Acis. Galatea lived in the
sea off Sicily (where the Cyclops
Polyphemus became infatuated by her), and doubtless a combination of this and the fact that she was beautiful is intimated in her name, which means '
milk white', from gala, galactos, 'milk'. (The Greek word gave the
English 'galaxy', which in turn derived from the
original Greek name for the Milky Way, Cyclos galacticos, literally 'milk circle'.)
