Erysichthon’s Crime and Punishment: The Prehistory of a Famine Demon

From a thematic point of view, Erysichthon’s story (Call. Hymn. 6, Ovid. Met. 8.728–778) can be compared to the Mahābhārata’s episode of Agni and Bhr̥gu’s curse (MBh. 1.1.5–7) and Loki’s wage against Brokkr (Skáldskaparmál 35). In the three mythological accounts the protagonist of the story is a fire-god or a character who is closely associated with the element ‘fire’; the protagonist’s crime consists in having harmed or violated the earth-goddess or a woman who is closely associated with the element ‘earth’; the protagonist’s punishment affects his appetite.