 | Acis and Galatea |  |
5
THE ARGUMENT.
Acis was the Son of
Faunus, and the
Nymph Symethis.
He loved and was beloved of
the Nymph Galatea, Daughter
to Nereus, the Son of
Oceanus and Tethys. Acis
was allowed to be the handsomest
Youth of all Sicily;
he was happy in his Amours
with Galatea, till Polyphemus
the Cyclop, Son of Neptune,
fell in love with her,
who surprizing 'em together,
with a Piece of a Rock overwhelmed
Acis. Galatea, by
her Persuasion, gained her
Father Nereus's Consent to
change him into a River.
Here the Poet has altered
the Catastrophe, and makes
Acis and Galatea happy at
last by Marriage. The Under-Plot
of Roger and Joan
6
is brought in to make the
Piece the more Dramatical.
The Story at large is mentioned
in Ovid's Metamorphoses,
lib. 13.
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| Acis and Galatea | |