cannibal achilles is what the name entails — achilles (yes, the greek guy from the iliad) as a cannibal. this idea / headcanon comes from both outside sources and the iliad itself.
the most obvious example of this is what achilles says to hector before hectors death, and if you’ve read the iliad you probably know what i’m talking about! while the specific quotes depends on your translation, the general gist is “i will kill you and eat you raw”.
take that as you will! some people interpret it as his rebellion against life, but i choose to represent it as his cannibalistic nature coming out. as apart of my view of cannibal achilles, i believe it’s more of a rage thing and that he becomes more cannibalistic after the death of patroclus.
in the iliad as well, they describe the myrmidons (achilles’ army) as ‘wolves, who tear at raw flesh…”
and you could interpret these as just expressions of their rage and their ferocity, which is fine! everyone has their own opinions! i don’t believe that it’s just expression, however, due to my next point.
if we’re adding outside sources, here’s a quote from the war that killed achilles by caroline alexander :
“ In the apocryphal Acts of Andres (dating to the third century A.D.), there is a "city of the cannibals," which is identified as Myrmidon; it is possible that this account taps into some more ancient, and savage, lost tradition. ”
( the text with the city of the cannibals is known as the acts of andrew and matthias, if anyone is interested! )
for me, even though it could have been an actual thing, it’s more of a headcanon for achilles! cannibalism as pure hatred, but also love, is a metaphor that i really enjoy! i also believe that cannibalism fits achilles character in general — his pure rage, his high view of himself.
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