Lycaon

Lycaon was a king of Arcadia in Greek mythology, a son of Pelasgus. He is remembered for the crime that brought down the anger of Zeus: in the best-known version he served human flesh to the god, and Zeus destroyed his house and turned him into a wolf (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.163–243; Pausanias 8.2.1–3). The story was told to explain the cult of Zeus Lycaeus on Mount Lycaeus in Arcadia.

Family

Apollodorus says that Lycaon was a son of Pelasgus by Meliboea, a daughter of Oceanus, or, as others say, by a nymph Cyllene. Pelasgus, in turn, was the son of Zeus and Niobe according to Acusilaus, but according to Hesiod he was born of the earth (Apollodorus, Library 3.8.1); the poet Asius, quoted by Pausanias, also says that the black earth gave up Pelasgus (Pausanias 8.1.4). Lycaon ruled the Arcadians and had fifty sons by many wives; Apollodorus names them, and they include Nyctimus, Maenalus, Pallas, Mantineus, Clitor, Stymphalus and Orchomenus (Library 3.8.1). Pausanias names other sons who founded cities, such as Pallas, who founded Pallantium, and Phigalus, who founded Phigalia, and makes Nyctimus the eldest, who held all the power (Pausanias 8.3.1). Eumelus and others said that Lycaon also had a daughter, Callisto, who was loved by Zeus and became the mother of Arcas (Apollodorus, Library 3.8.2); Hyginus also calls her Lycaon’s daughter (Hyginus, Astronomica 2.1).

Lycaon the Founder

Pausanias credits Lycaon with founding the city of Lycosura on Mount Lycaeus, with giving Zeus the surname Lycaeus, and with founding the Lycaean games (Pausanias 8.2.1). He places Lycaon in the time of Cecrops of Athens, and says that while Cecrops sacrificed no living thing, Lycaon brought a human baby to the altar of Lycaean Zeus, poured out its blood on the altar, and was immediately changed from a man into a wolf (Pausanias 8.2.2–3). Pausanias adds that, according to what is said, ever since Lycaon a man has been changed into a wolf at the sacrifice to Lycaean Zeus, and, if in wolf shape he abstains from human flesh, becomes a man again after nine years, but remains a beast for ever if he tastes it (Pausanias 8.2.6).

The Feast of Zeus

Ovid’s Version

In Ovid, Zeus tells the gods that he came down from Olympus in human shape because he had heard of the wickedness of men. He came to the house of the Arcadian tyrant, and gave signs that a god had come, and the people began to pray; Lycaon mocked their prayers and said that he would test whether the guest was a god or a mortal. He planned to kill Zeus in his sleep, and, not content with that, he cut the throat of a hostage sent from the Molossians, boiled some of the body and roasted the rest, and set it on the table. Zeus overturned the household with avenging flame. Lycaon fled in terror to the silence of the countryside and howled, unable to speak; his clothes turned to hair, his arms to legs, and he became a wolf, keeping his grey hair, his fierce face and his shining eyes (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.211–239). Zeus then told the other gods that he would destroy mankind, which led to the flood (Metamorphoses 1.240–243).

Apollodorus’ Version

In Apollodorus, the fifty sons of Lycaon were the most proud and impious of men. Zeus came to them in the likeness of a day-laborer to test them. They offered him hospitality, and at the urging of the elder brother, Maenalus, slaughtered a male child of the natives and mixed its inwards with the sacrificial food they set before the god. In disgust, Zeus overturned the table at the place which is still called Trapezus, and struck Lycaon and his sons with thunderbolts. Only the youngest, Nyctimus, was spared, because Earth caught hold of the right hand of Zeus and calmed his anger (Apollodorus, Library 3.8.1). When Nyctimus became king, the flood of Deucalion's time came, which some said was caused by the impiety of Lycaon’s sons (Apollodorus, Library 3.8.2).

The Victim

The ancient sources do not agree about the victim. In Ovid he is a Molossian hostage; in Apollodorus an unnamed local child, slaughtered by the sons. Hyginus says that Lycaon served Arcas, the son of Callisto and Zeus, cut in pieces with other meat, to find out whether his guest was a god. Zeus threw over the table, burned down the house with a thunderbolt, and turned Lycaon into a wolf; the boy’s limbs were gathered and put together again, and he was given to an Aetolian to rear (Hyginus, Astronomica 2.4). In Apollodorus, Zeus turned Callisto into a bear to hide her from Hera, Hera persuaded Artemis to shoot her down, and Zeus made her the constellation of the Bear and gave the baby Arcas to Maia to rear in Arcadia (Library 3.8.2).

Lycaon Sources

Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.163–243; Apollodorus, Library 3.8.1–2; Pausanias 8.1.4, 8.2.1–3, 8.2.6, 8.3.1; Hyginus, Astronomica 2.1, 2.4.

See Also: Zeus, Pelasgus, Callisto, Arcas, Nyctimus, Deucalion, Arcadia