Procrustean bed

…He made the travellers he captured lie on his bed, and if they were too short he would stretch them out by beating them with a hammer or applying weights to them, and if they were too long he would cut off the excess. The term Procrustean bed, which is still used today to mean strictness and ruthless coercion, comes from this. On the same road, Sinis, who tied each traveller's feet to two bent branches and split them in two, Skirōn, who kicked them into the sea to feed on a giant turtle, and Kerkyōn, who forced them to wrestle and kill them, were all killed by the Athenian prince Theseus using the same method he had used to kill travelers. …

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Procrustean bed" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…捕らえた旅人を自分の寝台に寝かせて，その身長が短すぎると槌でたたくか重しをつけるかして引き延ばし，長すぎると，はみ出た分を切り落とした。現在でも杓子定規，容赦ない強制の意で使われる〈プロクルステスの寝台Procrustean bed〉はこれに由来する。同じ街道で，曲げた2本の枝に1本ずつ足をゆわえつけ，通行人を二股裂きにしていたシニスSinis，海に蹴落として大亀の餌食にしていたスキロンSkirōn，むりやり相撲の相手をさせて殺していたケルキュオンKerkyōnらと相前後して，いずれもみずからが旅人を殺すのに用いた方法で，アテナイの王子テセウスに退治されたという。…

※「Procrustean bed」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報