Procrustes' Bed
Preserved but no longer current.
Procrustes, in Greek legend, was a robber of Attica, who placed all who fell into his hands upon an iron bed. If they were longer than the bed he cut off the redundant part, if shorter he stretched them till they fitted it; he was slain by Theseus. Hence, any attempt to reduce men to one stan- dard, one way of thinking, or one way of acting, is called placing them on Procrustes' bed.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Procrustes' Bed” mean?
Procrustes, in Greek legend, was a robber of Attica, who placed all who fell into his hands upon an iron bed. If they were longer than the bed he cut off the redundant part, if shorter he stretched them till they fitted it; he was slain by Theseus. Hence, any attempt to reduce men to one stan- dard, one way of thinking, or one way of acting, is called placing them on Procrustes' bed.
Is “Procrustes' Bed” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.