Erysichthon

Erysichthon of Thessaly ordered his men to cut down every tree in Demeter’s sacred grove. In spite of the cries of the Dryads of the grove, they continued to fell tree after tree. They came upon an oak larger than the others, wreathed in garlands and decorated with votive offerings left by those who’s prayers to Demeter were granted. Erysichthon ordered it cut down. A priestess of Demeter ran up to Erysichthon and tried to calmly dissuade him. His men hesitating, Erysichthon took an axe from one of them, determined to see the trees leafy crest touch the ground, even if it was sacred to the goddess, even if it was the goddess herself. As the blade bit into the trees bark, blood erupted out of it, and when one of his men tried to stop him, Erysichthon sundered his head from his neck with one blow. Through the din raised by the men, the lamentations of the dryads, and under the cold glare of the priestess, he chopped at the trunk, until it gave way and the tree fell. When it was all done, and the entourage had departed, the dryad pleaded with Demeter, who had been in the guise of the priestess, to punish Erysichthon. Demeter tasked a mountain nymph to implore the spirit of hunger, Limos, to aid them in vengeance. Limos came upon Erysichthon as he slept, and breathed herself into him. He woke with a hunger more ravenous than he had ever felt, and no amount of food was able to give him any relief. He ate his way through his herds, granaries, and fortune in order to obtain more food. Destitute, he sold his daughter Mestra. Mestra pleaded for aid to her lover Poseidon, who gave her the ability to transform into any animal, and she used this gift to escape, and return home. Her father took advantage of this, and sold her multiple times, since she could easily escape. In the end, Erysichthon devoured his own body, death being his only escape from his insatiable hunger.