Erysichthon was Poseidon’s grandson. He incurred the wrath of Demeter, goddess of nature, by cutting down the trees in the forest the Pelasgians had dedicated to her, including her sacred poplar. Erysichthon’s hubris went so far that he attempted to kill Demeter, who had taken the form of her priestess, Nicippus. The goddess punished Erysichthon by condemning him to insatiable hunger and agonizing gluttony, a condition that led him to devour himself.
Could any other myth symbolically portray humanity, blinded to its own condition, in an age of legitimacy crises for modern capitalism and post-democracy? A capitalism that destroys, with icy indifference, everything that makes life on planet Earth sustainable?
The climate crisis is forcing the sciences to re-examine the regimes of truth on which they based their development—in other words, to reflect critically on their past and their role today. The arts, too, are playing a decisive part in the effort to radically change our relationship with nature. Are historical scholarship, historical culture, and education indifferent to this?
