Summary
Procrustes, a citizen of ancient Attica, is alleged to have placed passing travelers on a bed and and either stretched them or trimmed them to fit the bed. This activity surrounding the Procrustean bed, might well be a metaphor for the Culture Wars, in which the one-size-fits-all philosophy is rampant.
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Extract
Procrustes and the Culture Wars.
Of all the serial killers who plied their trade in ancient Attica, Procrustes exercised the highest degree of professional ingenuity. "This man," wrote Diodorus Siculus, "used to take passing travelers and throw them upon a certain bed. When they were too big for it, he lopped off the overhanging parts of their bodies. When they were too small, he stretched them out by the feet." In Apollodorus's version, Procrustes had two beds, one large (on which he laid the short men, and hammered them until they were tall) and one small (on which he laid the tall men, and sawed them until they were short). Hyginus also belonged to the two-bed school, although he had Procrustes stretch his shorter victims by suspending anvils from their limbs. Whatever the furniture arrangement, everyone agreed that Procrustes' house was conveniently located on the road to Athens, and that when he offered his hospitality to footsore wayfarers, he was rarely refused.
Most later writers, including Plutarch, aligned themselves with Diodorus, perhaps believing (as do I) that a single bed for all comers was better suited to Procrustes' one-size-fits-all philosophy. I like to think, in fact, that the host was the only man who was exactly the right size for his bed, and that his unorthodox etiquette was a way of enforcing a solipsistic conformity: It fits me; therefore, everyone should fit it. The Procrustean bed, Diodorus model, suggests itself with dispiriting aptness as a metaphor for the ...See the full content of this document
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