Erysichthon



In Greek mythology, Erysichthon (also spelled Erisichthon, both of which translate as "Earth-tearer") can refer to two different personages:

Erysichthon of Thessaly
King Erysichthon of Thessaly was the son of Triopas. He cut down trees in a grove, sacred to Demeter; and cutting it down he killed a dryad nymph. Demeter punished him by placing Aethon, unrelenting and insatiable hunger, in his stomach, giving him insatiable hunger. He sold all his possessions, including his daughter, Mestra, to buy food, but was still hungry. Mestra was freed from slavery by Poseidon, who gave her the gift of shape-shifting to escape her bonds. Erysichthon sold her numerous times to make money to feed himself. Eventually, Erysichthon ate himself in hunger.

Erysichthon of Attica
There was another Erysichthon, the son of King Cecrops I of Athens and Agraulus. He died childless during his father's reign. He was said to have died in Prasiae, on the east coast of Attica, as he was returning from the holy island of Delos with a statue of Eileithuia, Goddess of Childbirth. Of the three ancient wooden images of the goddess that could be seen at her temple at Athens, one was identified as the image that Erysichthon had brought from Delos. According to Pausanias, Erysichthon’s tomb could be seen at Prasiae, where his corpse was said to have been buried after his ship had arrived in port.