A DEADLY BED
Procrustes was a villainous character in Greek
mythology. Procrustes (Polypemon/ Procoptas/ Damastes) was the son of Poseidon.
He had a house by the side of the road between Athens and Eleusis. He
used to invite passengers to spend a night in his house. They were attracted by
his hospitality and warm welcome. He offered pleasant food and a night’s rest
in his special magical bed, which, he said, was capable of exactly matching the
length of anyone who would lie down on it.
Procrustes would compel the guest to lie
on the iron bed. Then he would tie him to the bed and start his cruel
treatment. If the guest was shorter than the bed, he would stretch the body of
the guest on a rack using a hammer till his length exactly matched that of the
bed, causing great agony and final death. If the guest was longer than the bed,
Procrustes would chop off the legs of the guest to achieve a perfect fit; but
he would certainly bleed to death. In either case the victim was sure to die.
Some legends suggest that he had two different
beds of different lengths which he used so that no guest would ever fit a bed
exactly and escape from a painful death.
Finally the Greek hero Theseus defeated
Procrustes and fatally adjusted his length to suit his own bed. Thus Procrustes
died as a victim of his own technique, thus ending his reign of terror.
Any attempt to establish universal
uniformity is disastrous. Every person has a unique personality and
individuality. It is impossible to judge everyone using the same strict
standards. Harmony in variety and unity in diversity should be appreciated.
The
phrase ‘Procrustean bed’ is a metaphor to describe an arbitrary or unnatural
standard for a set of conditions to which everyone is forced to conform. One
who finds fault with everyone except himself and tries to punish others shares
the distorted vision and life style of Procrustes. When we point one finger at another person,
three other fingers on the same hand point towards us. Often we fail to notice
our own imperfections when we watch the sins of others. When we are harsh in
judging others, we become unable to receive mercy and compassion.
Jesus teaches us the dangers of wrongly
judging others {Matthew 7:1-5, Luke 6: 37-38, 41-42}. “Do not judge others, so
that God will not judge you, for God will judge you in the same way as you
judge others …”
The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
brought a woman caught in adultery and asked Jesus to judge her. They wanted to
stone her to death, but Jesus said to them, “Whichever one of you has committed
no sin may throw the first stone at her” {John 8: 3-11}.
……………………………………………………………………..
© By: Prof. Dr. Babu Philip,
Darsana Academy, Kottayam-686001, Kerala, India ( Former Professor, Cochin
University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala,
India), Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St.
Dominic's College, Kanjirappally, Leo. S. John, St.
Antony's Public School, Anakkal, Kanjirappally and Neil John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally,
Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
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