The Story of Lycaon

The story of Lycaon, which originated in Greek mythology, has been viewed as one of the first werewolf stories ever. According to legend, Lycaon was a cruel leader of a cult. Rumors of the atrocities committed by Lycaon and his cult made their way back to the God Jupiter, who decided to investigate. He found these rumors to be fact, and decided to reveal his identity to the cult. The members immediately paid homage to Jupiter, however, Lycaon did not believe that he was a real God and  prepared a feast for him consisting of human flesh. If Jupiter truly was a God, he would recognize the meal and decline to eat it, since cannibalism was a great sin. Jupiter immediately noticed what the feast consisted of. To avoid Jupiter's wrath, Lycaon fled to the countryside. Once there he found out what Jupiter had in store for him, slowly he began to transform into a man-wolf. The term "lycanthropy" was derived from Lycaon's name.