Discapacidad y alimentación en el mundo antiguo: Sacrificios, malnutrición y banquete

Abstract

Otherness and social inequality have been highly studied by many historians, specially in papers about social and gender history. In that sense, disability must be understood as a “social construction” that implies inequality and makes the role in society of people with disabilities difficult. As historians, we must study the effects of this kind of otherness and inequality in the past as well as the possibilities for disabled people to have a role in ancient cultures. This paper is focused on the relation between disabilities in the Ancient World and food. In order to do this, we have to analyze different considerations from the classical authors of “blemished” people and archaeological evidences, specifically in situations where nourishment is present like in animal sacrifices, widespread malnutrition, abundant mentions of disabled people in feasts or some observations on alcoholism.