Dalla morte la vita. Osservazioni intorno alla sacralità del cibo

Abstract

Since the appearance of Homo erectus, the consumption of meat has been constitutive of human life. Food is sacred because it is derived from the death of other living beings, but depriving these of life constitutes an offence against the gods, so any deprivation of life must take place according to precise rules. Food represents a symbol, and the occasions of its consumption are elective moments both of mediation between the here and the hereafter and of affirmation of the social body. On this awareness, albeit with specific articulations within each culture, the relationship between human beings and gods, and between men and men, has been founded. In increasingly limited contexts, it continues to be founded today.