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2. The Satirist and the Cannibal

The ending of the Trojan legend, we might here recall, is inseparably linked to the idea of full intestines—to the Trojan horse, that is, with its bellyful of silent Greek warriors—a proverbial symbol of guile throughout the English Renaissance.²⁴ Writers of the period persistently figured the potential for deceit as a potential gap between words and the bodies out of which they emerge. A story particularly popular in early modern England was Lucian's version of the tale of Momus and Hephaestus. In Hermotimus, or Concerning the Sects—a satire of all manner of philosophical schools and pretensions—Lucian relates the story of how Momus, mocker of the gods, judged a competition among Athena, Poseidon, and Hephaestus. To settle a quarrel among the three gods over which of them was the best artist, Momus is appointed to judge their creations; Athena designs a house, Poseidon a bull, Hephaestus a man. "What...

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1. Introduction
2. 1. The Matter of Troy
3. 2. The Satirist and the Cannibal
4. 3. Cannibalism and Silence
5. Copyright