Ancient History

Werewolves have been feared throughout history. In recent years, they’ve made their presence known via the big screen. However, the idea of humans turning into wolves is one of the oldest traditions in the world. Since the dawn of time, man has feared the idea of being mauled by a large beast that is a human in disguise.

Experts believe that the origins of werewolves stems from the earliest humans. From paintings on cave walls, we see that people were known to wear the hides of various animals in order to gain their strength or to commune with the animals themselves. Many Native American tales speak of shape shifters that can change into almost any animal they choose.

The ancient Greeks told the story of Lycaon, who was turned into a wolf after trying to serve Zeus, the king of the gods, a meal made from human flesh and blood. Because of this, the term lycanthrope was coined, which is now used as the term meaning werewolf. However, according to the story, Lycaon remained a wolf until he was killed by villagers. How the idea of changing from wolf to man is debated to this day.

However, there is some evidence that the idea for werewolves comes from a medical condition called Hypertrichosis. Basically, this is a condition where facial and body hair grows at an alarming rate. Some time around the 1550’s, a child was taken from his home in the Canary Islands and sent to the king of France. The child, Petras Gonzales, was covered in hair from top to bottom and looked like a werewolf. Fortunately, the child was well cared for and highly educated.

Werewolves have frightened humans for thousands of years, and were a good way to keep children from wandering too far away from home after dark. They were seen as being the reason behind many problems, and are thought to have even found their way into children’s fairy tales, (The Big Bad Wolf).

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