Home › Glossary › Letter A

Acis

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A mortal Sicilian shepherd in Greek myth, beloved by the sea nymph Galatea and tragically killed by the Cyclops Polyphemus out of jealousy.

Detailed Definition
Acis was a mortal shepherd in Sicily, beloved by the sea-nymph Galatea. He was crushed by the jealous Cyclops Polyphemus, but transformed into a river by Galatea’s grief. His story appears in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and is often cited in pastoral poetry as an emblem of tragic love, transformation, and the fleeting beauty of youth.
Example
Example in poetry:
Ovid’s Metamorphoses recounts Acis’s love for Galatea and his transformation into a river after being crushed by Polyphemus; Theocritus’s Idylls describe the pastoral romance between Acis and Galatea; Acis appears in Handel’s opera “Acis and Galatea,” inspired by classical poetry; Virgil alludes to the Sicilian river Acis as a locus amoenus shaped by myth; Acis symbolizes fleeting youth and tragic love in Renaissance pastoral poetry.
Additional Notes
Acis is a pastoral figure from Sicilian myth, best known through Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book 13) as the mortal lover of the sea-nymph Galatea, crushed by the jealous Cyclops Polyphemus and transformed into a river. His story exemplifies the intersection of love, violence, and metamorphosis—central Ovidian themes. Theocritus’s Idylls (6 and 11) offer earlier, more idyllic versions, making Acis useful for tracing the evolution of pastoral poetry from Hellenistic to Roman times. Students should consider how Acis’s transformation into a natural feature (the Sicilian river Acis) reflects the poetic convention of etiological myth. Related terms include Galatea, Polyphemus, and the pastoral mode.
Also Known As
Acis the River Youth Acis of Sicily Nymph-loved Acis Tragic Shepherd Acis
Skip to main content