Made To Measure

© Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons

The news about a funeral director's who faced with the problem of fitting a tall corpse into the wrong-sized coffin, cut the legs off reminded me about Procrustes, a character from Greek Mythology.

There's not a lot known about him, but he seems to have been some kind of robber. However he was also a sadist and, having the misfortune to live in an era before dentistry was a serious career option, decided to offer a bed to weary travellers.

The sadistic part was the way that he ensured his guests would be snug in their bed. He strapped them to it, and if they were too tall he cut their legs off. If they were too short he stretched them on a rack to ensure a perfect fit.

In the end, the hero Perseus gave him a dose of his own medicine, placing him on the bed and cutting off his head and legs.

Perseus is better known for slaying Medusa, a woman with killer looks and serious hair problems. Of course nowadays there would be no need for a decapitation-mad hero, just a quick trip to the supermarket to get some shampoo specially formulated for scaly hair. Oh, and a pair of shades.


There you go, some culture and useless information - what more could you want on a Sunday? I hope you all had a good weekend. The weather here was wet and cold.