| Erysichthon of Thessaly’s Axe | |
|---|---|
| |
|
Origin |
Erysichthon of Thessaly |
|
Type |
Axe |
|
Effects |
Causes a rabid hunger in a person until they have nothing left, sometimes resorting to self-cannibalism. |
|
Downsides |
Effects |
|
Activation |
Touch |
|
Collected by |
Warehouse 8 |
|
Section |
|
|
Aisle |
55632-791 |
|
Shelf |
20479-8832-465 |
|
Date of Collection |
June 1327 |
| [Source] | |
Origin[]
Erysichthon of Thessaly was the son of a king who cut down a grove of trees belonging to Demeter, the Greek goddess of the harvest. The workers refused to cut down an oak tree with votives on it, so Erysichthon took an axe to it and in the process ended up killing a nymph, not before it could curse him. Demeter responds and sends Limos, unending hunger, into his stomach.
The more food he wouldd eat, the hungrier he became. He sold everything he had but was still hungry, so he sold his daughter Mestra into slavery. She escaped with the help of Poseidon, and became able to shapeshift to evade imprisonment. Erysichthon used this to sell her again several more times, but could not find enough food and ate himself out of hunger.
Effects[]
The axe curses the holder in the same way as Erysichthon, causing the afflicted unending hunger unless neutralized. This can cause people to sell all their possessions, run away from their homes, eating anything available or in turn eating themselves if there is no other source of food around. The axe can be stopped with neutralizer or by planting an oak tree and giving a votive to Demeter, the opposite of what Erysichthon did.