Lycaon
Lycaon was the king of Arcadia who tested Zeus by serving him human flesh at a banquet — and was transformed into a wolf as punishment.
The Legend of Lycaon
King of Arcadia, Lycaon tested Zeus by serving him the flesh of a sacrificed child when the god visited disguised as a mortal. Zeus, enraged, overturned the table and transformed Lycaon into a wolf — the origin of the werewolf tradition. He then sent the great flood that only Deucalion and Pyrrha survived by building an ark on Prometheus's advice. The oracle at Delphi guided the survivors to repopulate the earth. Lycaon's impiety stands alongside Tantalus and Ixion as the darkest examples of mortals who abused divine hospitality on Olympus.
Parents
Pelasgus
Children
Nyctimus and fifty sons
Symbols
Fun Fact
"Lycanthropy" (werewolf transformation) takes its name directly from King Lycaon — the first werewolf in Western literature.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Lycaon's Feast
💭 concepttransgression, werewolf
The myth of King Lycaon who served Zeus a meal of human flesh and was transformed into a wolf, establishing the Greek origin of the werewolf legend.
Arcas
🗡 heroKingship, hunting, Arcadia
Eponymous founder and king of Arcadia who was nearly tricked into eating his own transformed mother
Io
🗡 herotransformation
Priestess of Hera transformed into a white cow by Zeus (or Hera), driven across the world by a gadfly until she reached Egypt.
Io
🗡 heroPriestess transformed into a cow
Io was a priestess of Hera whom Zeus seduced and then transformed into a white cow to hide from his jealous wife — she wandered the world in torment.
Caeneus
🗡 herotransformation
Born as the woman Caenis, raped by Poseidon, who granted her wish to become an invulnerable man.
Actaeon
🗡 heroHunter transformed into a stag
Actaeon was a master hunter who accidentally saw Artemis bathing naked — she transformed him into a stag and his own hounds tore him apart.
Phaea
🗡 heroNone recorded
Monstrous sow of Crommyon that terrorised the countryside until slain by Theseus
Periclymenus
🗡 heroshapeshifting
Grandson of Poseidon and defender of Pylos who could shapeshift into any animal but was killed by Heracles with Athena's help.
Periclymenos
🗡 heroShape-shifting, combat
Grandson of Poseidon who could change shape at will and sailed with the Argonauts
Actaeon
🗡 heropunishment
Hunter who accidentally saw Artemis bathing and was transformed into a stag, then torn apart by his own hunting dogs.
Busiris
🗡 heroNone recorded
Egyptian king who sacrificed strangers to Zeus until Heracles broke free and killed him
Prometheus
🗡 heroBringer of fire and champion of humanity
Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, for which Zeus chained him to a rock where an eagle devoured his liver daily — the archetypal rebel against divine authority.