Anthropophage
Mythology: Greek
(anthropophagus, plural anthropophagi)
A mythical race of cannibals described first by Herodotus in his Histories, and later by other authors, including the playwright William Shakespeare. The word first appears in English around 1552.
They are depicted as a being without a head, but instead have their faces on the torso. This may be a misinterpretation based on Shakespeare's writings in Othello, 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, who are indeed said to have no head, and have their facial features on the chest.
The manners of the Anthropophagi are more savage. They neither observe justice, nor are governed, by any laws. They are nomads, and their dress is Scythian; but the language which they speak is peculiar to themselves. Unlike any other nation in these parts, they are cannibals.
The Anthropophagi were in the habit of drinking out of human skulls, and placing the scalps, with the hair attached, upon their breasts, like so many napkins.
Next to these are the Melanchlamae, who roam about upon different tracts of land and live on human flesh. And these men are so avoided on account of their horrid food, that all the tribes which were their neighbours have removed to a distance from them. That way the whole region to the north-east, till you come to the Chinese, is uninhabited.
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Book of Shadows (Mythical Creatures List A)
LosoweMythical Creatures around the world starting with A. Won't be in alphabetical order sorry about that. Want to collect them all and then alphabetize it. Information was obtained from many parts of the internet.
