Cannibalism

[Mudhammam]

The reason I asked is because at the end of Book I in The Histories, Herodotus writes: "...The Greeks say it is the Scythians that do this, but it is not the Scythians that do so but the Massagetae... There is no definite limit to life other than this: when a man grows very old, all his relatives come together and kill him, and sheep and goats along with him, and stew all the meat together and have a banquet of it. That is regarded as the happiest lot; any man who dies of disease they do not eat but bury him in the ground, lamenting that he did not come to be eaten..."

Granted, it appears murder was a part of their custom, but let's just pretend it wasn't or that Herodotus is simply speaking about euthanasia. Now, we can't argue that it's not smart because of disease because they bury those and besides, if you cook meat thoroughly enough don't you pretty much get rid of anything that could be alive? I mean, it couldn't be different from the "sheep and goats" minus perhaps the tenderness...

So when I read this I was repulsed. But when I couldn't actually think of why I thought the Massagetae were wrong, I began thinking...



Or leg in this case.