In keeping with classical literature, in the Jewish and Christian tradition, the mother finds her realisation within her family as an exemplary model of virtue. She is ready to raise her children in virtue and convey to them a gift of God: the foundation of the Torah or Christian doctrine. Nevertheless, the Old Testament refer to maternal cannibalism in several texts, such as Deuteronomy 28, Lamentations 2 and 4, and 2 Kings 6. Also, the Jewish tradition contains descriptions of mothers who ate their children. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus mentions maternal cannibalism in his description of the Jewish War against the Romans, where he portrays the cannibalism of Mary of Bethezuba (Jewish War 6.199–219). Greek and Roman tragedies employ cannibalism to point out immorality not only in terms of mere decline or degeneration, but rather as a form of mundus inversus. Taking into account the classical literary tradition, this article will demonstrate how the portrayal of Mary’s cannibalism leads us to reflect on reasons for human suffering, especially in times of siege.