Lycaon in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Lycaon

17 passages from 7 ancient authors that tell of Lycaon, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Lycaon was a king of Arcadia in Greek mythology, son of Pelasgus and Meliboea. A version of the myth in which Lycaon appears says that he had fifty s... For the story in one place, read our article on Lycaon.

Hesiod (2)

Hesiod, Fragments 1.30–49Arcadia and the voyage of the ArgonautsThe first fragments name Pelasgus and Lycaon and the Arcadian sons of Lycaon. Most of the section concerns the Argo, with Phrixus and the ram, Phineus blinded for revealing the future, the Harpies, and the Argonauts' journey through Ocean and Libya.
Hesiod, Fragments 8.1–5AstronomyThe Astronomy, a poem attributed to Hesiod, is cited for the stars and constellations. The fragments name the Pleiades and the Hyades, the Great Bear and Callisto, Boötes and Orion.

Homer (5)

Homer, Iliad 5.166–296Pandarus and Aeneas against DiomedesPandarus complains that his arrow has not killed Diomedes and fears that a god stands beside him, and Aeneas persuades him to mount his car and face the Achaean. Sthenelus warns Diomedes, who refuses to flee and bids him seize Aeneas' horses, which are of the breed that Zeus gave to Tros. Pandarus' spear pierces Diomedes' shield, but Diomedes' spear passes through Pandarus' face and kills him.
Homer, Iliad 21.1–135The ford of the Xanthus; the death of LycaonAt the ford of the river the Trojans split, one half fleeing to the city and the other driven into the stream, where Achilles leaves his spear on the bank and cuts them down with his sword. He takes twelve youths alive to be slain at the pyre of Patroclus. Lycaon, a son of Priam, clasps his knees and begs for his life, but Achilles tells him that all must die, kills him and throws him into the river.
Homer, Iliad 5.95–165Pandarus wounds Diomedes; Athena's giftPandarus, son of Lycaon, wounds Diomedes in the right shoulder with an arrow, and Sthenelus draws it out. Diomedes prays to Athena, who gives him strength and lifts the mist from his eyes so that he can tell gods from men, telling him to fight no god except Aphrodite. He kills Astynous, Hypeiron, Abas, Polyidus, Xanthus and Thoon, and Echemmon and Chromius, falling on the Trojans like a lion among sheep.
Homer, Iliad 4.73–219Pandarus breaks the truce and wounds MenelausAthena goes down in the likeness of Laodocus and persuades Pandarus to shoot at Menelaus. The arrow passes through belt and corselet and draws blood, and Agamemnon, in dread, says that the broken oath will bring ruin on Troy. Talthybius is sent for Machaon, who sucks the blood from the wound and spreads soothing drugs upon it.
Homer, Iliad 20.75–155Apollo rouses Aeneas; the gods sit apartAchilles wants above all to meet Hector, but Apollo, in the likeness of Lycaon, goads Aeneas into facing him. Aeneas protests that some god always stands beside Achilles, and Apollo answers that he too is the son of a goddess, Aphrodite, and should pray to the gods. Hera tells Poseidon and Athena that the gods should stand by Achilles, but Poseidon proposes that they sit apart on the wall of Heracles and join the fight only if Ares or Apollo begin it.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.8.1–2Lycaon and his sons; Callisto and the birth of ArcasThe account returns to Pelasgus and his son Lycaon, whose fifty impious sons serve Zeus a child's flesh; Zeus overturns the table at Trapezus and blasts them, sparing only Nyctimus. In Nyctimus's reign comes the flood of Deucalion's day. Zeus seduces Callisto, a companion of Artemis, and she is turned into a bear and shot; her son Arcas is raised by Maia, and she becomes the constellation of the Bear.

Ovid (2)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.163–252Lycaon and the council of the godsZeus (Jupiter, 'Jove' in More's translation), grieved at the wickedness of the earth, calls a council of the gods and tells how he went to the house of Lycaon in Arcadia and found a savage king. Lycaon mocked the god, set before him human flesh and plotted to kill him in his sleep, and Zeus burned his house and turned him into a wolf. The gods approve of his plan to destroy mankind, and Zeus promises them a new race to people the earth.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.401–526Callisto and ZeusZeus (Jupiter), having repaired the harm done by the fire, sees Callisto, a nymph of Arcadia who follows Artemis (Diana), and takes her by force, disguised as Artemis. When Artemis discovers her pregnancy at the bath, she drives her out, and Callisto bears a son, Arcas, and is turned into a bear by Hera (Juno). Years later Arcas meets his mother in the woods and is about to kill her with his spear when Zeus sets them both among the stars. Hera, furious, begs the sea gods not to let the Bear sink into the ocean.

Pausanias (5)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.2.1–7Arcadia: Lycaon and the wolf legend of Zeus LycaeusPausanias tells how Pelasgus' son Lycaon founded Lycosura, gave Zeus the surname Lycaean and founded the Lycaean games, which Pausanias thinks older than the Panathenaic games. Lycaon sacrificed a human child on the altar of Lycaean Zeus and was turned into a wolf, which Pausanias believes, arguing that in early days men became gods and the gods punished the wicked. He also reports that a man is said to turn into a wolf at each sacrifice and regain human shape after nine years if he abstains from human flesh. He warns that lovers of the marvellous build fiction on a foundation of truth.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.3.1–7Arcadia: the sons of Lycaon and CallistoPausanias lists the sons of Lycaon and the Arcadian cities named after them, among them Pallantium, Oresthasium, Phigalia, Trapezus, Helisson, Orchomenus, Maenalus, Tegea and Mantinea. Oenotrus, the youngest, led the first Greek colonising expedition to Italy, where the country was named Oenotria. Lycaon also had a daughter, Callisto, who was loved by Zeus and turned into a bear by Hera and shot by Artemis, and whom Zeus then set among the stars as the Great Bear. The Arcadians point out her grave.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.26.1–8Heraea and Aliphera: Dionysus, the grave of Coroebus and the Fly-catcherPausanias describes Heraea on the Alpheus, with its riverside avenues, baths, temples of Dionysus and Pan and the ruined temple of Hera, and names Damaretus as its most famous athlete. He gives the boundary with Elis at the grave of Coroebus, winner of the first Olympic race after the revival by Iphitus. He then describes Aliphera, where Athena is said to have been born and bred, with its altar of Zeus Lecheates, its bronze Athena by Hypatodorus and its sacrifice to the Fly-catcher, and ends with Melaeneae and the springs of the Buphagus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.35.1–10Megalopolis: roads to Messenia and Lacedaemon and the ruined towns of the interiorPausanias describes the road from Megalopolis to Carnasium in Messenia, the Hermaeum 'at the Mistress' on the border, and the road to Lacedaemon, with a remark on the disputed town of Belemina. He then lists the roads into the interior and the ruined towns founded by the sons of Lycaon: Charisiae, Tricoloni with its sanctuary of Poseidon, Zoetia, Paroria, Thyraeum, Hypsus and Phalanthus. He also mentions the grave of Callisto with its sanctuary of Artemis Calliste, and the plain of Polus and Schoenus, which he links to the race-courses of Atalanta.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.39.1–6Phigalia: its capture by Sparta and the hundred OresthasiansPausanias crosses the river Plataniston to reach Phigalia, recalls its founder Phigalus, and tells how the Lacedaemonians took the town in the thirtieth Olympiad. The exiled Phigalians were told by the Pythian priestess to take a hundred picked Oresthasians, who died fighting and so restored them to their land. He describes the hill-top city, with its sanctuary of Saviour Artemis, the square-ended Hermes in the gymnasium, and the Dionysus Acratophorus whose image is hidden in laurel and ivy and painted with cinnabar.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (1)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 4.323–464Funeral games: boxing, archery and the iron barEpeius, son of Panopeus and builder of the Horse, steps forward for the boxing, and none dares face him. Oileus' son and Teucer then compete in archery at a helmet. Aias alone is able to hurl the great bar of iron.

Nonnus of Panopolis (1)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 18.0–86Book 18: Staphylos and Botrys welcome Dionysos to their palaceRumour spreads word of Dionysos, his gift of the vine and his war with the Indians, and the Assyrian king Staphylos comes with his son Botrys to meet him. Staphylos begs the god to be his guest, recalling how Zeus was once entertained by Lycaon, Tantalos and others, and Dionysos agrees. They drive through the Taurus to the palace, where Staphylos shows off the silver walls and jewelled decoration of his hall.