What is Lycanthropy?

Lycanthropy is the art of transformation through magic or divine punishment for grave offenses, whereby one assumes the form of a wolf, driven by an insatiable craving for human flesh. This is the common definition. In truth, lycanthropy originates from a type of madness, akin to what can be observed in most psychiatric institutions. The ancients referred to this ailment as lycanthropy, cynanthropy, or bovinism, as victims believed themselves to have become wolves, dogs, or cattle. In the Nordic regions, as we shall see, the afflicted often took on the form of bears; in Africa, they were thought to transform into hyenas.

I often select such stories for illustrative purposes, purely out of personal interest. According to the surviving fragments of Marcellus Sidetes' poetry, this madness frequently struck at the year's beginning, escalating into uncontrollable ferocity by February. Victims would find solace in isolated cemeteries at night, living as dogs and wolves.

The Greek historian Herodotus recounted:

"If one believes the accounts of the Scythians settled in Neuri, such madness renders them like sorcerers; each afflicted individual transforms into a wolf once a year, retaining that form for several days before returning to their human state." Similarly, Pomponius Mela wrote:

"Every victim of this affliction has a fixed time when they transform, taking on the form of a wolf if they so choose, and later reverting to their human guise."

Ovid narrated the tale of Lycaon, the Arcadian king, who sought to test Jupiter’s omniscience by serving him human flesh at a feast. In retribution, Jupiter transformed Lycaon into a wolf:

"He sought to speak but found his words replaced by howls;

From that moment, his mouth foamed with bloodlust,

Slaughtering sheep in a furious rage.

His regal robes turned to coarse fur, his limbs to crooked claws,

Though now a wolf, his savage countenance endured—

His fur still gray, his expression unrelenting,

His eyes burned bright with wild intensity."

Pliny the Elder shared a tale where, during Jupiter’s festival, a member of the Antaeus family was chosen by fate and taken to the Arcadian lake. He hung his clothes upon a tree, leapt into the water, and emerged as a wolf. If he refrained from tasting human flesh for nine years, he could regain his human form, albeit aged as if he had lived those years in his original body. Agriopas recounted a similar story of Damarchus, who, during a sacrificial rite to Jupiter, consumed human flesh and was instantly transformed into a wolf. After nine years, he regained his human form and even competed in the Olympic Games.

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Another account unfolds as follows:

"My master had gone to Capua to sell old clothes, leaving me free to persuade a guest—bold and unafraid, being a soldier—to join me for a five-mile journey outside the city. We set off at dawn, under a moonlit sky so bright it resembled daylight. Passing through countless tombstones, he began speaking to the stars while I hummed a tune, counting them as we walked. When I turned back, I saw him shedding his clothes and laying them by the roadside. My heart raced as he suddenly transformed into a wolf.

Don’t think I jest; no amount of gold could tempt me to lie about this. After his transformation, he let out a howl and darted into the woods. Shocked, I picked up his discarded clothes, only to find they had turned to stone. Sweat poured from me uncontrollably. Melissa later wondered why I had returned so late.

‘You’re too late,’ she said. ‘A wolf raided the farm and killed all our cattle. Though it fled, it did not escape unscathed, as one of the servants speared it with a pitchfork.’

I couldn’t sleep that night. At dawn, I rushed back to the spot where the clothes had turned to stone, finding only a pool of blood. When I returned home, I found the soldier lying in bed with a wound on his neck being treated by a surgeon. I realized then that he was a shapeshifter. From that day forward, I could no longer dine with him—no force on earth could compel me. Should anyone doubt my account, may the devil himself curse me!"

It is widely known that Jupiter once took the form of a bull; Priam’s wife became a she-wolf; Actaeon transformed into a stag; Ulysses’ companions into swine; and the daughters of Praetus, believing themselves to be cows, ran wild through the fields, refusing to let anyone near for fear of being yoked.

Saint Augustine spoke of an old woman reputed to transform men into donkeys through her spells. Apuleius Lucius left us his enthralling tale The Golden Ass, where the protagonist, misusing a magical ointment, became a long-eared beast.

Lycanthropy appears most prominently in Arcadia. A plausible explanation suggests that the pastoral people, plagued by wolf attacks, initiated sacrificial rites to appease the gods and protect their flocks. These rites, often involving the sacrifice of a child, are attributed to Lycaon. Due to the ritual’s human element and the founder’s peculiar name, the myth took shape. Yet, given the story’s widespread nature, its origins likely cannot be traced to any single event or location.

Half the world has believed—or still believes—in werewolves. Even those with no connection to Arcadia imagine them roaming the forests of Norway. This superstition is deeply ingrained in the psyche of Scandinavians and Teutons, predating Lycaon’s tale. Moreover, a glance at Eastern literature reveals the same enduring fascination rooted firmly in the imagination of the East.