Galatea and Polyphemus; and The Apotheosis of Acis

The story of Galatea, Acis and Polyphemus, is related by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. Galatea was a sea-nymph of Sicilian origin, who fell in love with a handsome boy, Acis. She was in turn loved by the Cyclops, Polyphemus, who appears in Homer's Odyssey. Polyphemus one day sat on the rocks by the shore, playing a love song, as Galatea passed by in her cockle-shell drawn by dolphins. Later whilst wandering disconsolately in the throes of unrequited love, he came across Galatea in Acis' arms; enraged, he threw a vast rock at Acis, killing the unfortunate youth.