Erysichthon
heroThessalian king who cut down Demeter's sacred oak and was cursed with insatiable hunger that eventually consumed him.
The Myth
He ate everything — including, in the end, himself. Erysichthon cut down the most sacred tree in Demeter's grove despite the tree bleeding and crying out. The goddess cursed him with hunger that could never be satisfied. He ate every animal on his estate, spent his fortune on food, sold his own daughter Mestra into slavery (she kept escaping through shape-shifting, a gift from Poseidon), and finally began gnawing his own flesh. Ovid and Callimachus both tell the story. It is the most extreme punishment-by-appetite in myth, surpassing even Tantalus — Tantalus could not eat, but Erysichthon could not stop eating.
Parents
Triopas
Children
Symbols
Fun Fact
Erysichthon's insatiable hunger has been compared to modern concepts of addiction and compulsive consumption.
Explore Further
Mestra
heroDaughter of Erysichthon who was given the power of shapeshifting by Poseidon, sold repeatedly by...
Tantalus
heroA king who offended the gods by serving them his own son as a meal. His punishment in Tartarus —...
Tantalus (Punishment)
heroKing invited to dine with the gods who stole nectar and ambrosia and served his son Pelops as a...
Cecrops
heroHalf-serpent first king of Athens who judged the contest between Athena and Poseidon.
Demeter
godGoddess of grain, harvest, and the fertility of the earth. When her daughter Persephone was...
Demeter (Grain)
godDemeter was the goddess of grain, harvest, and fertility whose grief over Persephone's abduction...
Demeter Thesmophoros
godAn epithet of Demeter as bringer of divine law and civilised customs, honoured at the Thesmophoria,...
Poseidon
godLord of the seas and brother of Zeus. Poseidon's moods shaped the oceans — calm seas for those who...
Poseidon (Earth-Shaker)
godPoseidon was the god of the sea and earthquakes whose moods determined whether sailors lived or...
Poseidon Hippios
godAn epithet of Poseidon as lord of horses, reflecting his role as creator of the first horse and...
Dryads
nymphDryads were nymphs bound to individual trees — when the tree died, so did its dryad.
Amazons
heroThe Amazons were a legendary nation of all-female warriors who lived without men, governed...