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Once upon a time, there lived a king named Erysichthon, who ruled over Thessaly. This king was as arrogant as his daughter was wise, and one day, without her consent, he rallied his subjects to desecrate the sacred grove of Demeter (Ceres) — the Goddess of Plenty, the Goddess of Harvest — where they came upon an ancient oak. The ancient oak warns him of the retribution which will surely fall upon the King upon its death, but Erysichthon does not care. He brutally hacks the oak to death to show his invincibility, prove his impiety, and to demonstrate the foolishness of his subjects’ faith.
The nymphs of the grove travel to Mount Olympus to ask Demeter for revenge; the Goddess consents. For every power, there must be its opposite, so she sends the nymph away to find Hunger, the Goddess of Lack. Upon receiving the message from the nymph, Hunger glides into Erysichthon’s sleeping quarters and breathes herself onto him in his slumber, infiltrating his veins with everlasting ravenousness. The next day and every day thereafter, Erysichthon wakes to an insatiable hunger — the more he eats, the hungrier he feels — until finally, he eats away all of his wealth and kingdom. Nothing is left but the clothes on his…
