Back to the Basics

The story of Erysichthon (what a weird name, by the way) is about a guy who didn't believe in the gods, or respected anything that was sacred or related to them. One day he cuts down a tree sacred to the goddess Ceres and she, for revenge, sends Hunger upon him. He starts to eat, and eat, and eat but his hunger doesn't end. He ends up selling his own mother in exchange for some food, but he remains starving. Finally, he destroys himself, his hunger being so urgent that he starts to eat himself.

If you think about it, Erysichthon brings this punishment of eternal hunger upon himself. He disrespects the gods and makes fun of their sacredness and their rituals. I mean, it's okay not to believe in something, which is very common in religion, but what need does he have of mocking the gods, of undermining the system? He thinks he is almighty, and that nothing can affect him, we see this after the tree says 'you will never get away with this' and he sarcastically responds 'Oh, now I'm really frightened' . He speaks to everyone as if they were inferior and he thinks the world of himself, this we can see when the narrator warns him that the tree was sacred to Ceres and he rudely shoves him away and calls his a 'pious son of a bitch'.

I think that in this story, the huger that Erysichthon has is a creative punishment, and a great way of torture, I would say, after seeing what it leads him to do. The hunger could also be a form of greed, it never ends and no matter how much he has he always wants more, 'I need more! I must have more!' 'I WANT MORE!' Erysichthon exclaims. In fact, this undying hunger, or greed, leads him to sell his own mother and to eat his own foot! The saddest part is, I don't think that Erysichthon even realizes what he did to earn this, he is too blinded by his needs to think of anyone else, which is how he always was.

Inside this story there is the story of his mother, which shows a totally different morale than Erysichthon's story. She is sold by her son to a boat man, just so that her son could have more to eat. While she is being forced to row in the man's boat at her old age, she prays to Poseidon the god of the seas, 'Poseidon, if you remember me, come and save me now'. He hears her prayers and brings her into the sea, turning her into the little girl she was before and setting her free to play at his shores. I think that Poseidon helped her because of her good spirit, when she was a girl and she 'gave him praise... shouting as she ran among the waves'. She must have done good deeds in her life because it says that 'that is the kind of sweet, unbidden praise the gods adore and do not forget'.

I think it is really interesting how two stories so controversial as these can take place in one same story and between such, supposedly, close characters.