Metamorphoses: Erysichthon Scene Questions

1. Why does Erysichthon cut down the tree? 

A: Erysichton cuts down the three because he insists he needs the wood. The purpose is never specified. 

Eurysichton: "We need the wood, cut it down."

2. Define piety. 

A: Piety is a reverence for God or devout fulfillment of religious obligations. Piety is a term used to describe religious devotion. It can be used in positive and negative connotations. In the scene, Erysichton uses it in a negative connotation: "Get off me, you, pious son of a bitch!". He is insulting the man's religious beliefs. 

3. How does this term relate to Erysichthon? 

A: This term relates to Erysichton because he repeatedly makes fun of the man's (narrator 3) religious beliefs but cutting down the tree and explicitly insulting him: "Get off me, you, pious son of a bitch!". 

4. What connections can be made between this scene and "The Giving Tree"?

A: Erysichton and the boy a pretty similar. Erysichton is possessed by Hunger, he can't stop eating. His need for food is too great. It is that great that he sells his mother to earn money to be able to buy food. In the poem, the boy has such need for the good of the tree that in the end he cuts off parts of the tree little by little until there is nothing more than a stump. Erysichton's mother did everything for him to be happy. The same happens in the poem, the tree was willing to give anything to bring the boy happiness. These two characters share two characteristics: greed and selfishness. 

5. Relate the events in this scene to a specific passage in Siddhartha. 

A: I relate this story to the part where Siddhartha almost committed suicide in the river. All along the story, Siddhartha has been looking in different places for knowledge to be able to reach the enlightenment. He looks in many places and when he is not able to find a proper teacher that is going to give him what he wants, he is willing to kill himself. Just like Erysichthon, when he has nothing else to eat, he is willing to eat his own foot. Both of these characters have insatiable needs and they are willing to do anything to fulfill them.