|
| lycanthropy
in arcadia (and elsewhere) |
Date:
Thu, 26 Aug 1993
From: John
Glasscock
Subject:
Lycanthropy in Arcadia
I ran across an
interesting passage in AR Burn, _The Pelican History of Greece__,
1973, p. 224. Time: ca. 446 BC "The young king (of Sparta) in
titular command, Pleistoanax, a son of the ill-fated Pausanias, was
impeached and fined a sum which he could not pay; he fled to the
grim sanctuary of Apollo the Wolf-god in Arcadia, where it was said
that human flesh was mixed with the sacrifices, that he who ate it
became a wolf, and that no beast cast a shadow." Questions:
1. Who knows of "werewolf"
tales of an earlier time?
2. Who is the
authoritative source for this story? Burn omits references for this
general tome.
3. What is the
relationship of Lykourgos to this story? I seem to recall being told
once of a wolf relation to the family of Lykourgos (I think I see
the root, but I am no linguist).
4. Are there any
similar stories in the ancient Mediterranean? Has anyone written
recently about this?
Date:
Fri, 27 Aug 1993
From: Mr John
Hilton
Subject: Re:
Lycanthropy in Arcadia
The major locus
is Pausanias 8.2 ff. and concerns Lykaon the son of Pelasgos who
founded Lykosoura and the Lykaian games. Lykaon was said to have
sacrificed a child at the altar of Lykaian Zeus and was then turned
into a wolf. This unfortunate experience happened to others
subsequently but, provided they abstained from meat while wolves,
they changed back to human form after nine years (the term of the
priesthood suggests Levi). See also Pliny HN 8.81 ff. Also Paus
6.8.2
Date:
Fri, 27 Aug 1993
From: Bob Develin
Subject: Re:
Lycanthropy in Arcadia
A bit of
searching will show that lycanthropy is pretty common wherever the
wolf was known; the mystery only increased as the animal became
scarce, as in Classical Greece. On Lykourgos see Sallares, *The
Ecology of the Ancient Greek World*, p. 165. There's an interesting
British song called "Reynardine", where we have a fox-man
instead.
Date: Fri,
27 Aug 1993
From: "C.G.
BROWN"
Subject: Re:
Lycanthropy in Arcadia
There is some
very interesting discussion of `werewolves' in Burkert's *Homo
Necans*.
Date:
Fri, 27 Aug 1993
From: Mark
Williams
Subject: Re:
Lycanthropy in Arcadia
Further on
lycanthropy, you may wish to look at the following: Otten, Charlotte
F. A lycanthropy reader: werewolves in western culture. Syracuse,
N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1986 xvi, 337 p., ill. Bibliography
p. 321-324.
Date:
Fri, 27 Aug 1993
From: Neel Smith
Subject: Re:
Lycanthropy in Arcadia
I second
Chrisotpher Brown's recommendation of *Homo Necans*. Ifmemory serves
me correctly, there is also useful material in Dennis Hughes'
dissertation:
AUTHOR Hughes,
Dennis D., 1951-
TITLE Human
sacrifice in ancient Greece / Dennis D. Hughes.
IMPRINT London ;
New York : Routledge, 1991. NOTE Revision of the author's thesis
(Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1986.
Date:
Fri, 27 Aug 1993
From: Donald
Lateiner
Subject: Re:
Lycanthropy in Arcadia
Dennis Hughes'
dissertation has been published by Routledge, so will be more
readily accessible in its revised form.
Date: Mon,
30 Aug 1993
From: "Croxen,
Kevin"
Subject:
Lycanthropy
Though there are
much newer treatments of the lycanthropy tradition, in my opinion by
far the best remains Montague Summers "The Werewolf"
(1933; rpt. 1966). The great value of Summers' material is in no way
reduced by the author's evident belief in the historical truth of
most of what he relates. . |
| Culled
from
classics.log9308e
and
classics.log9308d |
|