Lycaon of Arcadia
In Greek mythology, Lycaon was a king of Arcadia who, in the most popular version of the myth, tested Zeus' omniscience by serving him the roasted flesh of Lycaon's own son Nyctimus, in order to see whether Zeus was truly all-knowing.
In return for these gruesome deeds, Zeus transformed Lycaon into a wolf and killed his offspring; Nyctimus was restored to life.
Despite being notorious for his horrific deeds, Lycaon was also remembered as a culture hero: he was believed to have founded the city Lycosura, to have established a cult of Zeus Lycaeus and to have started the tradition of the Lycaean Games, which Pausanias thinks were older than the Panathenaic Games. According to Gaius Julius Hyginus, Lycaon dedicated the first temple to Hermes of Cyllene.
Family
Lycaon was the son of Pelasgus and either the Oceanid Meliboea or Deianira, daughter of another Lycaon. His wife was called Cyllene, a naiad nymph who gave her name to Mount Cyllenê though sometimes she was regarded as his mother instead. In some accounts, the Arcadian town Nonakris was thought to have been named after his wife. Lycaon was also known to have had at least three daughters: Callisto, Dia and Psophis.Sons of Lycaon
According to the Bibliotheca, Lycaon has 50 sons. An alternate list of Lycaon's sons is given by Pausanias. According to his account, almost each of them founded a city in Arcadia and became its eponym.| Name | Apollodorus | Pausanias | Others | Notes |
| Acacus | √ | foster-father of Hermes; founded Acacesium | ||
| Acontes | √ | |||
| Aegaeon | √ | |||
| Alipherus | √ | √ | founded Aliphera | |
| Ancyor | √ | |||
| Archebates | √ | |||
| Aseatas | √ | founded Asea | ||
| Bucolion | √ | |||
| Canethus | √ | |||
| Carteron | √ | |||
| Caucon | √ | √ | eponym of the Caucones that were believed to have settled in Triphylia | |
| Charisius | √ | founded Charisia | ||
| Cleitor | √ | √ | possibly eponym of Cleitor | |
| Corethon | √ | |||
| Cromus | √ | founded Cromi | ||
| Cynaethus | √ | |||
| Daseatas | √ | founded Dasea | ||
| Eleuther | √ | stayed aside from the abomination | ||
| Euaemon | √ | possibly eponym of Euaemon | ||
| Eumetes | √ | |||
| Eumon | √ | |||
| Genetor | √ | |||
| Haemon | √ | √ | possibly eponym of Haemoniae | |
| Harpaleus | √ | |||
| Harpalycus | √ | |||
| Helix | √ | |||
| Helisson | √ | founded the town of Helisson | ||
| Heraeus | √ | √ | founded Heraea | |
| Hopleus | √ | |||
| Hypsus | √ | founded Hypsus | ||
| Lebadus | √ | stayed aside from the abomination | ||
| Leo | √ | |||
| Linus | √ | |||
| Lycius | √ | √ | √ | founded Lycoa |
| Lycros | √ | |||
| Macareus | √ | √ | founded Macaria | |
| Macednus | √ | founded Macedonia | ||
| Maenalus | √ | √ | √ | founded Maenalus |
| Mantineus | √ | √ | √ | founded Mantinea |
| Mecisteus | √ | |||
| Melaeneus | √ | √ | founded Melaneae | |
| Nyctimus | √ | √ | √ | succeeded to Lycaon's power |
| Oenotrus | √ | √ | the youngest, founded Oenotria in Italy | |
| Orchomenus | √ | √ | √ | founded Orchomenus and Methydrium |
| Orestheus | √ | founded Oresthasium | ||
| Pallas | √ | √ | founded Pallantium | |
| Parrhasius | √ | founded Parrhasia and said to be the father of Arcas | ||
| Peraethus | √ | founded Peraetheis | ||
| Peucetius | √ | |||
| Phassus | √ | |||
| Phigalus | √ | founded Phigalia | ||
| Phineus | √ | |||
| Phthius | √ | √ | possibly eponym of Phthiotis | |
| Physius | √ | |||
| Plato | √ | |||
| Polichus | √ | |||
| Portheus | √ | |||
| Prothous | √ | |||
| Socleus | √ | |||
| Stymphalus | √ | √ | possibly eponym of the town Stymphalus | |
| Teleboas | √ | √ | ||
| Tegeates | √ | founded Tegea | ||
| Thesprotus | √ | √ | founded Thesprotia | |
| Thocnus | √ | founded Thocnia | ||
| Thyreus | √ | founded Thyraeum | ||
| Titanas | √ | |||
| Trapezeus | √ | founded Trapezus | ||
| Tricolonus | √ | founded Tricoloni |
Versions of the main myth
There are several versions of the Lycaon myth already reported by Hesiod, told by several authors. The most popular version is the one reported by Ovid in the first book of his Metamorphoses.The different versions of the myth are as follows:
- According to the Bibliotheca, Lycaon had sired 50 sons with many wives. These sons were the most nefarious and carefree of all people. To test them Zeus visited them in the form of a peasant. They mixed the entrails of a child into the god's meal, whereupon the enraged Zeus threw the meal over the table, which explains the name of the city Trapezus, and killed Lycaon and his sons with lightning. Only the youngest son, Nyctimus, was saved due to the intervention of Gaia.
- John Tzetzes records two similar versions which agree with Apollodorus' account; one mentions that the idea to serve Zeus a slaughtered child belonged to Maenalus, one of Lycaon's sons, while the other makes Nyctimus the victim.
- According to Pausanias, Lycaon was instantly transformed into a wolf after sacrificing a child on the altar of Zeus and sprinkling the blood on the altar.
- According to Lycophron, all were transformed into wolves for having devoured Nyctimus. Lycophron extends the characteristics of Lycaon and his sons onto all the Arcadians.
- The version recounted by Hyginus in his Fabulae is basically the same as that of Pseudo-Apollodorus. In Astronomica, Hyginus describes the victim of Lycaon as being Arcas, son of Jupiter and Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon. When saved and restored to life, Arcas was brought up to be a hunter. By mistake, he hunted himself and his mother into a temple where entrance was punished by death. Both were saved by Zeus to constitute the constellations Arctophylax and Ursa Major, the Great Bear.
- Nicolaus Damascenus tells that Lycaon's sons were nefarious. To test Zeus they mixed the flesh of a boy into the sacrifices, whereupon all who were present during the murder of the child were killed by lightning.
- According to Ovid, Lycaon mistrusted and derided the signs of Zeus' divine nature which the god openly demonstrated upon arrival to Arcadia. Determined to find out whether the guest was truly a god or a mortal, Lycaon served Zeus the flesh of a prisoner, partly cooked and partly roasted. Moreover, in his quest to test Zeus' immortality Lycaon attempted to murder the god while he slept. Thereupon Zeus brought the roof down and transformed the fleeing Lycaon into a wolf.
- According to the dictionary Suda, Lycaon had diligently been guarding the laws established by his father for the Arcadian people. In order to keep his subjects from injustice, he would tell them that Zeus frequented his home in the guise of a mortal man so as to keep watch over how lawful the humans were. One day when he was about to perform a sacrifice, the people were eager to know if the god was present; to find out if Lycaon told them the truth about Zeus' visits, they killed one of the king's fifty sons and mixed him in with the sacrificial meat, whereupon all of them were killed by lightning.
- According to Eratosthenes, Lycaon butchered his grandson, who was put together again by Zeus and placed upon the constellations, whereas Lycaon's house was struck by a thunderbolt.
Modern interpretation
In popular culture
- In Highschool DxD, the Mythological Lycaon who was transformed into a wolf by Zeus was sealed into a Sacred Gear the Canis Lykaon.
- The television series Teen Wolf mentions Lycaon and his sons as an origin story of werewolves. Lycaon was said to have approached druids who had conquered the ability to shapeshift between animal and human forms. They helped Lycaon and his sons.
- In The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, Lycaon is depicted as a minor running antagonist, usually working for the villain of the story. He is a sworn enemy of Artemis and her Hunters.
- The book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin describes a very similar story to Lycaon's called The Rat Cook. In this story, similar events occur, with The Rat Cook being transformed into a rat by the gods instead of a wolf.
- In the anime adaption of the manga series Soul Eater, a villain exists whom is a werewolf and has a theme song aptly named "Lycaon " in reference to this tale.