Chapter 22

Aaron Pena
10/21/10
Mythology

Mythology;

Chapter; 22 summary

The story Erysichthon

Erysichthon trying to fill his insatiable appetite.

The giants acted with reluctance to the Prince’s surprise. The Prince then announced that anyone who dared disobey his orders would be beheaded. The Prince added on that he would destroy the giant oak even if it was Demeter herself. Before Erysichthon could swing his axe at the tree, the giant oak tree let out a terrible scream and Demeter heard the cry and was angry. Demeter, angrily exclaimed “who dares destroy my sacred trees?”, and came forth disguised as her mortal chief priestess. Demeter approached the prince and warned him “do not mutilate trees in which are sacred to the immortals and take your servants and leave”. Erysichthon was not intimidated by Demeter’s disguised mortal advice. Now the prince was even more belligerent and replied “leave me to my ways or I shall fall you with my eager axe”, and proceeded to tell disguised Demeter that he intended to build a palace with the trees and within its walls bear a feast for him and his friends.
• Erysichthon was a mortal who was punished for his arrogance  and caused his own fate by his attitude and actions. He had no respect for any ones property and in this myth, the property was sacred to a god. Erysichthon was given a chance to change his ways and chose not to, he saw no difference in himself compared to a god. He thought of himself as superior to the gods in order to have felt that he had the right to destroy Demeter’s sacred grove. His punishment convinced anyone who could have been tempted to lose sight of their mortal condition, that gods did not tolerate arrogance, gods expectation was man must know himself and know his place in the universe.
• Demeter dearly loved her sacred grove of trees in Thessaly and spent countless hours in its shade. She became furious when Erysichthon an impious young prince who decided to desecrate Demeter’s sacred grove by building a palace with the sacred trees. The Prince didn’t act alone he gathered twenty giant servants who had the combined strength to uproot an entire city, the giants were armed with hatchets,double bladed axes, and many other weapons. The young prince who gave them these weapons led them to Demeter’s sacred grove and ordered them to cut the sacred trees down. The Prince announced that he himself would cut down the largest of the trees, which was a gigantic oak tree, who’s branches seemed to touch the heavens.
• The tree was then cut down by the prince and as the tree died it proclaimed “with my departing life I prophecy that vengeance for your actions is near for I am the Dryad who lives within this sacred tree”. Erysichthon’s servants abandoned him and their actions were excused by Demeter for them being forced against their will, ordered to cut down her sacred trees. Demeter then embraced the prince with an embarrassing curse, in which he ate within his newly built palace’s walls for the rest of his life, his family ashamed. All caused by the prince’s arrogance and the fair haired Demeter’s curse.
• Demeter gave the prince his curse by ordering her nymph to take her chariot with harnessed dragons to Scythia near Mount Caucasus to find famine, a hideous creature who caused people to vanquish, as the prince did. Famine grabbed onto the prince as he slept and in doing that gave the prince his uncontrollable hunger. The disease worked on the prince by infecting his mortal body and forcing him to devour all his nourishment.

• 

  Fair haired Demeter.

  After a while the prince lost his palace along with it his wealth and forced his family into poverty, eventually causing him to live on the streets, stuck with his embarrassing curse eating peoples table scrapes. His father called upon Zeus crying to the heavens “if you truly are my father, look upon your grandson and help him” and continuing to tell him he’d rather have his son stuck with another dreadful punishment than him being stuck with an insatiable appetite, adding on that he was forced into poverty by supplying his son with descent food. Then the father pleaded if Zeus could not break the curse if he could help feed the prince. The lord of the Sea heard his son’s prayer but it was to late. When Erysichthon could no longer supply his own body with sufficient food, the prince began to consume his own blood and flesh, thus consuming himself and dying. Fair haired Demeter was avenged.