A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

Smith, William

A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890

(Ἐρυσίχθων), that is, the tearer up of the earth

1. A son of Triopas, who cut down trees in a grove sacred to Demeter, for which he was punished by the goddess with fearful hunger. (Callim. Hymn. in Cer. 34, &c.; Ov. Met. 8.738, &c.) Müller (Dor. 2.10.3) thinks that the traditions concerning Triopas and Erysichthon (from έρευείρη, gobigo) belong to an agricultural religion, which, at the same time, refers to the infernal regions.