You may have heard of Inktober, where for each day of October there is a new word to use as an artistic inspiration. Thanks to Greek Myth Comix, there is also Classicstober, with a Classics-themed word. On the 20th October 2022, the prompt is Transformations, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to share with you the myth of Lycaon,* the Werewolf of Arcadia.
In the spirit of Transformations, I’ll also tel you the story of Lycaon’s daughter Callisto, who was transformed into a bear.
* Not to be confused with Lycaon, a son of Priam who was killed by Achilles in the Trojan War (Iliad 21.34—127)
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| Lycaon print, Crispijn de Passe the Elder c.1611-1637, currently held at the British Museum |
Lycaon was the son of the Oceanid Meliboea or the nymph Cyllene. He had fifty sons by several wives, and one daughter, Callisto (but more on her later!). There are two versions of his myth, both of which include murder and cannibalism (trigger warning).
In one version of the myth, Lycaon was a virtuous king, but his sons were evil. Zeus visited dressed as a beggar to test them, because rumours had carried to Mount Olympus of the sons’ wickedness and impiety. They gave Zeus hospitality, but among the meat they served him were the intestines of a murdered child.
This infuriated Zeus as the god of xenos, hospitality and guest-friendship. In his rage, he upended the table, which gave the place its name, Trapezus (trapeza = table). He blasted Lycaon and his sons with thunderbolts, except for his youngest son, Nyctimus. He was saved by Gaia, mother earth, and he later inherited the kingdom.
In some versions, it is Zeus’ fury at Lycaon’s sons that causes him to destroy most of the human race with the Great Flood (that’s right, it’s not just Christianity that has a flood story). In terms of mythical chronology, Lycaon was a contemporary of Deucalion who, along with Pyrrha, restore the human population after the Flood.
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| Deucalion and Pyrrha, by Giovannia Maria Bottalla, c.1635 |
While that is a story gory enough to be worthy of spooky season, we all know you’re reading this for the werewolf version…
In the other version, Lycaon was as bad as his sons. It was him who set the human meat before Zeus, though it was either the flesh of a slave or the flesh of Zeus’ son Arcas. Or, he did not literally serve Zeus human flesh, but he sacrificed a human child on the altar of the god (the Greek gods were very opposed to human sacrifice, seeing it as a “savage” practice, which is why there is always outrage and dikē, punishment, when mortals in Greek myth sacrifice humans).
Zeus sent his thunderbolts against Lycaon’s sons, but the king himself got a different punishment. He was transformed into a wolf (lykos, the same root from which we get lycanthropy, the werewolf condition).
It was said that from this time onwards, whenever a man tasted human flesh at sacrifices to Lycaean Zeus, he was turned into a wolf. But, if he thereafter abstained from eating human flesh, he would be turned back into a man after nine years.
Lycanthropy or other monstrousness as a punishment for cannibalism can be found in other mythical and folkloric traditions. There is a very famous version in Native American beliefs, which has been furiously mined for storylines in fantasy TV, including Charmed and Supernatural. However, the word itself is a curse, and it’s a massive affront and act of violence to bandy it around, so I won’t be using it here. I’m sure you know what I mean, and if not, it’s easy to google.
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| The Wolf Man (1941) |
Keeping with the Classicstober theme of Transformations, Callisto was also transformed (trigger warning: rape; victim blaming; secondary trauma).
In some versions, she is the daughter of Lycaon, and in some others, she is a nymph. Her name means ‘most beautiful’. She was a companion of Artemis, spending her time as a huntress in the mountains of Arcadia, and she had taken a vow of chastity.
Zeus spied her one day as she was resting in the woods, and he disguised himself as Artemis. Unknowing, she welcomed him, and only when he kissed her did she realise that it wasn’t her goddess. Zeus raped her and left her pregnant.
Months later, Artemis and her companions undressed and bathed in a cool stream. Except for Callisto, who was trying to hide her pregnancy from the virgin goddess. Her friends stripped her, and Artemis realised that her companion had had sex. It did not matter to her whether it was consensual or not.
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| Diana Bathing with her Nymphs with Actaeon and Callisto, Rembrandt, 1634 |
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| Diana and Callisto, Rubens, 1937-1938 |
In some versions of the story, Artemis transforms Callisto into a bear; in others, it is Hera who transforms her, because she is filled with jealousy when Callisto gives birth to Zeus’ son, Arcas. In some versions, Zeus himself turns her into a bear to hide the evidence of his infidelity.
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| Jupiter and Callisto, Boucher, 1759 |
You might be tempted to think that this is a blessing in disguise: Callisto loved the woods and she would be safe from men’s advances as a bear. But no, it is crueller than a simple transformation, because she retains her human mind, so the mutilation of her body is a constant reminder of her earlier violation by Zeus.
For 15 years she lives like this, until one day her son, Arcas, comes face-to-face with her in the woods. She recognises him, but he sees only a bear; she tries to approach him, and he kills his own mother.
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| Arcas and Callisto disguised as a Bear, Crispin van de Passe the Elder, 1564-1637 |
Zeus, heretofore ignoring Callisto’s plight, takes pity on her. He stills Arcas’ hand, and raises the mother and son to the stars, where she becomes the constellations Ursa Major (the Great Bear), and he becomes Arcturus (the Bear-guardian).
This makes Hera even angrier, so she makes the sea gods Oceanus and Tethis agree to never allow the constellation to rest in the waters of the Ocean that surround the earth. This becomes an etiological myth to explain why the Great Bear never sets, bur revolves around the Pole Star.
This myth is told most famously by Ovid in Metamorphoses (2.409—531). Ovid is at his best when providing poignant reflections on the gods’ cruelty and the miseries faced by mortals:
‘Diana cherished her best – but no one’s favour is lasting.’
‘[Jupiter] assumed the features and dress of the goddess Diana,
[…] and gave her a passionate
kiss on the lips, not the kiss that a virgin goddess would give.
[…] he gripped her
tight in his arms, and his subsequent felony gave him away.’
‘Often she hid when she saw wild beasts and forgot her new nature;
the she-bear trembled at bears whom she spired on the mountains, and even
was horribly scared of the wolves, though one was her father, Lycaon.’
***
It’s getting cold! Why not buy me a coffee from my local Transylvania Coffee Shop?
Further reading:
March, Jenny, ‘Callisto’ & ‘Lycaon’, Dictionary of Classical Mythology (London: Cassell, 2001)
Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. Raeburn (London: Penguin, 2004)
Euripides, Helen, trans. Wilson, in The Greek Plays, ed. Lefkowitz & Romm (New York: Modern Library, 2016) 375–80.
Cover art: Lycaon transformed into a Wolf, engraving by Hendrick Goltzius (1589)
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