An anthropophage or ''anthropophagus'' (from , "human-eater", plural ) was a member of a mythical race of cannibals described by the playwright

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. The word first appears in English after 1460.

Origin

The Anthropophagi might have been inspired by the

Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...

tribe of the

Androphagi The Androphagi were an ancient Scythians, Scythian tribe whose existence was recorded by ancient Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman authors. The Androphagi were closely related to the Melanchlaeni and the Budini. Name The name is a Latinisation of ...

described by the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

author

Herodotus of Halicarnassus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histories ...

. Ephraim Chambers' Cyclopædia says "Many, some say most, of the ''Savages'' are ''Anthropophagi''."

In literature

The most famous usage of the Anthropophagi appears in

's ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'': Shakespeare makes yet another reference to the cannibalist ''anthropophagus'' in the ''

Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'': T.H. White also features the Anthropophagi as

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

's enemies in his novel '' The Sword in the Stone'': American novelist Rick Yancey incorporates the myths of the Anthropophagi in his 2010 release '' The Monstrumologist''.

Pop culture

In popular culture, the ''anthropophagus'' is sometimes depicted as a being without a head, but instead have their faces on the

torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical terminology, anatomical term for the central part, or the core (anatomy), core, of the body (biology), body of many animals (including human beings), from which the head, neck, limb (anatomy), limbs, tail an ...

. This may be a misinterpretation based on Shakespeare's writings in ''

'', where the ''anthropophagi'' are mistaken to be described by the immediate following line, "''and men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders''". In reality, the line actually refers to a separate, different race of mythical beings known as the

Blemmyes The Blemmyes ( or Βλέμυες, ''Blémues'' , Latin: ''Blemmyae'') were an Eastern Desert people who appeared in written sources from the 7th century BC until the 8th century AD. By the late 4th century, they had occupied Lower Nubia and esta ...

, who are indeed said to have no head, and have their facial features on the chest.

References

{{Reflist British folklore Greek legendary creatures Legendary tribes in classical historiography Mythic humanoids Mythical headless creatures Mythological anthropophages Mythological cannibals Othello

Origin

In literature

Pop culture

See also

References