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[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Excellent reference. Yes, happens in times of food scarcity. 5th C BCE Issedones were supposedly from what is now Western Siberia, and gradually moved into other areas west of there, but kept some of their canibal traditions. The best part is the liver of young people, but zombies (those in the movies) don't seem to know that.

[–]asterias 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

According to Herodotus, that tribe had such a hatred for Greeks that they had a custom of duping unsuspecting travelers into being their guests so they would murder and eat them. It was a ritual that everyone has heard of from various sources.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Interesting. There is also an element of this kind of 'savagery' in much of the early travel writing, well into the early modern era, perhaps prompted also by translations of Herodotus (& Aristeas) and especially, Ptolemy (another summary of ancient texts), and Roman concerns about Scythians and Gauls. Conquests of the East, Africa and the New World thereafter would incldude similar stories of canibalism among the 'other'. Not sure how much of it is true. Travels of Sir John Mandeville are a fun read, and reflect similar accounts by authors who didn't actually witness much of what they wrote. But I digress. Greeks must have been delicious.