Procrustes
Προκρούστης
(Προκρούστης), that is, "the Stretcher," is a surname of the famous robber Polypemon or Damastes. He used to force all the strangers that fell into his hands into a bed which was either too small or too large, and in which he had their limbs stretched by force until they died. He was slain by Theseus, on the Cephissus in Attica; the bed of Procrustes is used proverbially even at the present day. (Plut. Thes. 11; Paus. 1.38.5; Ov. Met. 7.438.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.