Callimachus Erysichthon once took twenty men with him to the sacred grove of
Demeter, where he cut down a black poplar tree where tree
nymphs gathered around to dance; the tree groaned as he wounded it. Demeter, feeling the tree's discomfort at once, flew down to the grove. Taking a mortal woman's form, she advised Erysichthon against cutting down the tree, warning him of Demeter's wrath. Erysichthon rudely told her to leave, threatening to strike her down with his axe and saying he needed the tree to build an extension for his house where he could hold feasts. Returning to her true divine form, Demeter took revenge. She sent insatiable hunger to him, and no matter how much he ate and drank, he could never satisfy his hunger or his thirst (the latter condition had been inflicted on him by
Dionysus, who was just as angry as Demeter). Even his parents refused to visit him, and he ended up wasting all his wealth for food. He also sold all of his belongings to gain money to buy food. In the end, he becomes a beggar living off the crumbs thrown at him by those passing by.
Ovid Erysichthon once ordered all trees in the sacred grove of
Ceres (the Roman equivalent of Demeter) to be cut down. One huge oak was covered with
votive wreaths, a symbol of every prayer Ceres had granted, and so the men refused to cut it down. Erysichthon grabbed an axe and cut it down himself, killing a
dryad nymph in the process. The nymph's dying words were a curse on Erysichthon. Ceres responded to the nymph's curse and punished him by entreating
Fames, the spirit of unrelenting and insatiable hunger, to place herself in his stomach. Food acted like fuel on a fire: The more he ate, the hungrier he got. Erysichthon sold all his possessions to buy food, but was still hungry. At last, he sold his own daughter Mestra into slavery. The latter was freed from slavery by her former lover Poseidon, who gave her the gift of shape-shifting into any creature at will to escape her bonds. Erysichthon used her shape-shifting ability to sell her numerous times to make money to feed himself, but no amount of food was enough. Eventually, Erysichthon
ate himself in hunger. Nothing of him remained the following morning.
Hyginus Hyginus, calling him Triopas (which is his father's name in other versions), wrote that Erysichthon tore down a temple of Demeter wishing to build a roof for his house. She then sent hunger to him as with all other versions, that no amount of food could satisfy. Near the end of his life a snake was sent to plague him, and afterwards was put among the stars (the constellation
Ophiuchus) by Demeter herself, as was the snake, to continue to inflict its punishment on Erysichthon.
Gigantomachy On the
Pergamon Altar, which depicts the battle of the gods against the Giants (also known as the
Gigantomachy), surviving remains depict what seems to have been Demeter fighting a Giant labelled "Erysichthon," like the Thessalian king. == Mythic interpretation ==