The True Nature of Cannibals

In Montaigne’s essay “Of Cannibals,” the definition of barbarism is thoroughly explored, and the author concludes in favor of a view very unlike what was held at the time. Greece: the country that consisted of seemingly “the perfect religion, the perfect government, the perfect and accomplished manners in all things” (3). Everything else, all other unknown cultures and peoples, are most obviously barbaric and inferior in all aspects of such a civilization, yes? According to the typical Grecian, yes, but not according to Montaigne. Montaigne, rather, develops very conflicting opinion throughout the essay that Greece itself may be the barbaric nation in comparison to every other culture. Montaigne proceeds to describe a certain society with admiration of its simplicity, “resoluteness in war and affection for their wives” (5). Montaigne continues to reveal that this particular culture actually eats prisoners of war, but herein lies what the most controversial part of the essay would be during the time period. Montaigne states that if Greece can so readily condemn fault in other cultures, it is ironic how blind Greece is to its own faults (6). However, the essay continues even further to humiliate Greece even further by charging the nation with “treachery, disloyalty, tyranny, and cruelty,” and goes as far to say that in comparison to the cultures Greece deems barbaric, Greece “surpass[es] them in every kind of barbarity” (6), in face of what would be deemed the most barbaric act of all: eating another human. As a result, Montaigne deals a sharp blow to the Grecian culture, perhaps in hopes of enlightening the Greek towards their seemingly conflicting nature in dealing with other societies, and the value and worth of the societies themselves not directly related to Greece.