The present contribution wishes to compare the natures and forms of anthropophagy in nar-rative and tragedy. Both focus on the same horrific moments, nevertheless the figuration of thistransgression, with its generic proximities and differences, highlights certain properties of thetwo genres, especially a different relationship to reality.The comparative study of the motif reveals a contrasting treatment of the motif: the short sto-ries cover more the field of anthropophagy and the theatre that of cannibalism, thus making itpossible to apprehend a distinction that anthropology would later formulate.