Langland Reads Ovid: The Myth of Erysichthon and the Figure of Hunger in Piers Plowman

This essay argues that the Hunger episode in Passus 6 of the B text of William Langland’s Piers Plowman was very likely influenced by Langland’s knowledge of the myth of Erysichthon found in Book 8 of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Although any association between Langland and the ‘classics’ has generally been discounted, when one considers the popularity of Christian moralized forms of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in the fourteenth century, the important place of Ovid’s work in the school curriculum, and the use of Ovid’s myths in sermons and handbooks for priests, it is clear that Langland would have had easy access to some form of Ovid’s work. The myth of Erysichthon in the Ovidius Moralizatus of Pierre Bersuire deserves special consideration as a source for Langland because Bersuire specifically interprets Erysichthon’s hunger as avarice (wanting more than one needs), a sin Erisychthon shares with the wasters who will not help Piers plant his half-acre and demand more than they need.