French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Nagy, Who's Afraid of the Cannibal? Ancient Accounts of Anthropophagi.
History, Politics and Society

Who's Afraid of the Cannibal? Ancient Accounts of Anthropophagi

Agnès Nagy

Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, coll. "Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes", 2009.

ca. 300 p.

ISBN 9782503531731

45 euros

Publisher's overview:

Among the monsters that fill us with as much terror as they do fascination, the man-eater and the cannibal occupy a prominent place. Yet this fascination mixed with terror – or terror mixed with fascination – is nothing new. As early as antiquity, those who engaged in deeply reprehensible acts – conspiracy and rebellion, banditry, parricide, incest, or the practice of perverted rites – were frequently suspected of cannibalism. Early Christianity in the Roman Empire faced such suspicions during its first two centuries; alleged sorcerers and heretics did so throughout the Middle Ages; and Jews bore the brunt of them until the last century. Why does anthropophagy evoke such intense emotion and hatred? Why is this paradigm capable of capturing the fear and sense of danger that the Other arouses in us? This book provides some answers through an analysis of ancient accounts of cannibals. The reader will trace the evolution of the cannibalism motif from a simple identity marker – and subsequently a sign of exclusion – to a veritable lethal weapon directed against those whose ideas and lifestyles might threaten the established order; the reader will also witness the process by which the outcasts themselves co-opted the figure of the cannibal to turn the tables. Spanning more than a millennium, this journey takes us through classical Greece, the Hellenistic kingdoms, and the Roman Empire, with a stopover in Israel and a brief excursion to Mesopotamia before arriving at its final destination: the Christian Roman Empire.

Agnès A. Nagy is a historian and specialist in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean. Her doctoral dissertation in the history of religions, upon which this book is based, was defended in July 2006 at the University of Geneva under the supervision of Philippe Borgeaud and Enrico Norelli. After spending a year at the Institute for Jewish Studies in Vienna (Austria) as an SNSF fellow, and three years at the Faculty of Theology and Sciences of Religions at the University of Lausanne as a research assistant, she is currently working on a research project focused on ancient and modern theories of the religious legitimation of execution, directed by Francesca Prescendi at the University of Geneva.

Agnès Nagy’s work situates itself within the historical study of religions and the construction of alterity in the ancient Mediterranean. By examining how accusations of anthropophagy were leveled against marginalized groups—from early Christians to alleged heretics—the book explores the social and political functions of taboo. Cannibalism is analyzed not as a literal practice, but as a powerful rhetorical category used by dominant cultures to define the boundaries of civilization and criminality. This approach aligns with the intellectual tradition of analyzing cultural myths to understand how societies construct their own identity through the exclusion of the Other.

This volume is highly valuable for historians of the classical world, scholars of religious studies, and those interested in the sociology of exclusion. It addresses fundamental questions about how societies respond to perceived internal and external threats, and how dominant groups weaponize moral panic to maintain power. Furthermore, Nagy’s analysis of how outcasts co-opted the cannibal label offers crucial insights into ancient strategies of resistance. Readers will find a rigorous, source-based investigation into the long-lasting legacy of one of humanity's most enduring and terrifying taboos.