Editor’s Note: Issue 2

Hello!

John again. It’s Labor Day weekend as I put the finishing touches on Issue Two: Pygmalion & Galatea. Happy to say I’m immensely proud of this issue and can’t wait for you all to dig in.

The myth of Pygmalion & Galatea is simple: Man witnesses prostitution, is enraged, vows celibacy, sculpts a woman, falls in love(/lust) with it, wishes for a girlfriend just like his statue, Aphrodite says sure and makes her a real girl for him to marry. The new stone-to-flesh woman didn’t get a name for centuries until Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Age of Enlightenment, becoming Galatea.

The story has had lasting impact, inspiring plays, romantic comedies, fairy tales and far more. There’s a lot to explore here, a seemingly enduring tale repeated with reason for centuries.

For Pygmalion himself, there is the misogyny and impotence that leads him to reject flesh and blood women, only to turn to stone as the canvas of his fixations. He does not conquer his urge for sex or his desire for women. He turns to artificiality, a lifeless representation of a woman, and he becomes fixated by it. He develops the skill to create a woman he sees as being as above all other women, but it is the likeness of a woman and not a human being he loves. When his wish is granted and his kiss brings life to stone, does Pygmalion get what he wanted, or does he realize his desires were wrong? The original myth seems to leave that question wholly unanswered.

For Galatea, from her perspective, there is birth. New life, a life defined from the very beginning by another. She does not choose life (though none of us do) and her own wants and desires are also left up for interpretation. Does Aphrodite create her to truly love Pygmalion, or is she a full human being and must make up her own mind on her creator-husband?

In an age of incels and sex bots, feminism and fascism, it felt a great place to start.

In this issue, there is a lot of direct engagement with this story. Retellings, critiques, all brilliantly shaded by a fantastic assortment of writers. There’s also, by design, some wider takes on the core themes which I think flesh out the issue tremendously. I asked submitters for work engaged with creation, mimicry, gender, cybernetics, love, parenting, war, revolution, abuse, art, culture, high society, sex, alchemy, magic, technology, the self, family and blood and they did not disappoint.

The sum of all parts is a fascinating, diverse, thought-provoking issue populated with talented, open-hearted writers who will leave a lasting impression.

Thank you so much for taking the time to engage with their work. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have putting it all together!

-John, EIC