Erysichthon

This performance presents advertisement imagery from television commercials and websites in order to explore the ancient myth of Erysichthon, who devoured his own body after being punished with insatiable hunger. This is a myth about the outcome of trespassing natural boundaries, which in the Greek and Roman tradition were impregnated with a sacred character. Erysichthon, the son of king Triopas, chopped down trees from one of Demeter's sacred groves in order to use the wood to build banquet rooms. Disguised as one of her priestesses, Demeter herself warned Erysichthon against cutting down these sacred trees. As Erysichthon goes ahead dismissing the warning, the goddess utters: "Yea, yea, build thy house, dog, dog, that thou art, wherein thou shalt hold festival; for frequent banquets shall be thine hereafter." (Callimachus, Hymn to Demeter, 66-70).