The scandal provoked by the first performances of Crébillon’s Atrée et Thyeste sparked a long-lasting debate, which took on various shapes and forms (description or commentary, short or extended text). From the criticism of an unbearable horror to an effort at moralizing the genre of the tragedy itself, the bloody cup and the cannibalistic project to which it is associated give rise to debates which modify their understanding. The debate also concerns the playwright’s way of thinking, from the concrete question of his moral integrity to the poetic one of his creative freedom. These discussions emphasize the importance of the experiences of reception, where aesthetics and ethics are linked, and shed light on some effects of critical debates on fictional creation.