Pygmalion of Tyre

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For other individuals with this name, see Pygmalion.

Pygmalion (also known as Pumayyaton) was king of Tyre from 820 to 774 BC and a son of King Mattan I (829-821 BC).

During Pygmalion's reign, Tyre seems to have shifted the heart of its trading empire from the Middle East to the Mediterranean, as can be judged from the building of new colonies including Kition on Cyprus and, according to tradition, Carthage. For the story surrounding the founding of Carthage, see Dido.

In Virgil's masterpiece The Aeneid, Pygmalion is the cruel-hearted brother of Dido who secretly kills Dido's husband Sychaeus because of his lust for gold.

In Dante's The Divine Comedy, Purgatorio, Canto XX, verses 103-105, Dante uses Virgil's version of Pygmalion to represent greed.

Pygmalion of Tyre

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