The Werewolf in the Ancient World

by Daniel Ogden

In a moonlit graveyard somewhere in southern Italy, a soldier removes his clothes in readiness to transform himself into a wolf. He depends upon the clothes to recover his human shape, and so he magically turns them to stone, but his secret is revealed when, back in human form, he is seen to carry a wound identical to that recently dealt to a marauding wolf. In Arcadia a man named Damarchus accidentally tastes the flesh of a human sacrifice and is transformed into a wolf for nine years. At Temesa Polites is stoned to death for raping a local girl, only to return to terrorize the people of the city in the form of a demon in a wolfskin.

Tales of the werewolf are by now well established as a rich sub-strand of the popular horror genre; less widely known is just how far back in time their provenance lies. These are just some of the werewolf tales that survive from the Graeco-Roman world, and this is the first book in any language to be devoted to their study. It shows how in antiquity werewolves thrived in a story-world shared by witches, ghosts, demons, and soul-flyers, and argues for the primary role of story-telling-as opposed to rites of passage--in the ancient world's general conceptualization of the werewolf. It also seeks to demonstrate how the comparison of equally intriguing medieval tales can be used to fill in gaps in our knowledge of werewolf stories in the ancient world, thereby shedding new light on the origins of the modern phenomenon. All ancient texts bearing upon the subject have been integrated into the discussion in new English translations, so that the book provides not only an accessible overview for a broad readership of all levels of familiarity with ancient languages, but also a comprehensive sourcebook for the ancient werewolf for the purposes of research and study.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, History, Werewolves, Folklore, Ancient History, Occult

280 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Professor of Ancient History; Honorary Research Fellow, UNISA



Principal research areas:

(1) traditional narratives in antiquity;

(2) Greek religion;

(3) Macedonian and Hellenistic Dynasties.

Reviews

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The werewolf has been with us almost from the beginning of civilization. David Ogden has made a reputation for writing academic books about topics that fall into the realms of pop culture, and The Werewolf in the Ancient World is his latest example of that. While just about everyone has heard of the werewolf, it is generally thought of as a relatively recent monster, but in fact the idea is quite ancient. Ogden focuses mainly on the classical world of Greco-Roman times, but also delves into some medieval sources as well.

The book doesn’t go into modern cultural reflections on the werewolf, although, as I’ve noted elsewhere (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), he points to the closest thing to a foundation novel, Guy Endore’s The Werewolf of Paris. He doesn’t analyze this in any detail since his focus is further back. Although generally accessibly written, the book is academic with considerable discussion of classic sources and their difficulties. The result, however, is a useful resource for readers interested in early ideas of lycanthropy.

The werewolf goes back even earlier than explored in Ogden’s book, but the references are brief and never clearly spelled out. Ogden begins with the earliest known extended discussions on the topic and tries to draw the connections between them. There are occasional nods to present-day folklore regarding the werewolf, but the book clearly states what it intended to do with the title and does it quite well.

[TammyJo Eckhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have found Daniel Ogden's other books which I read to be fairly accessible to the non-classist and non-historian; that is not quite the case here. The texts Ogden uses are confusing and contradictory, so having a background in Greek and Roman (if not also Etruscan) worlds is highly recommended. Also having folkloric knowledge may be useful. Luckily I have those qualifications so I found the book both fun and intriguing to read. I don't agree with everything that Ogden states, I found chapter four's reliance on medieval material weak compared to the other chapters, but I do understand why he makes the connections he does. Ultimately I agree with him that werewolves must have a long history in the stories of antiquity.

[Cassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this book when Robin Sloan recommended it on his Instagram stories and was immediately taken with the wry humor in the posted snippets. A couple months later, lo and behold! My local indie bookstore got a copy JUST in time for a final BOOktober purchase.

If you’re looking for classic, howling-under-full-moons-biting-people werewolves, it doesn’t really show up in Ogden’s ancient sources. Instead, he presents an analysis that is both accessible to the curious novice (such as myself) and extremely systematic and detailed in the construction of the arguments about the nature of werewolves in ancient folklore and their association with witches and ghosts.

I’ve got Ogden’s other recent books on dragons and witchcraft added to my to-read list now too!

[Ryan Denson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Werewolves are wolves because there is a sense in which wolves are in and of themselves werewolves already — insofar, that is, as they combine the qualities of the wildest and most lawless of animals with those of civilization and humanity."

"As a traditional folkloric object, the werewolf's primary function, indeed its only duty was to lie at the heart of a good story."

Beginning with the werewolf story from Petronius and the observation that it is typically deemed as the only surviving werewolf story in Greco-Roman antiquity, Ogden proceeds with an ambitious project to reconstruct the various traces of werewolfism in ancient thought with reference to medieval and modern continuities. This takes the kaleidoscopic form of a 'folklore first' perspective that examines elements of such ideas in literature from Homer to medieval texts, and even occasionally referencing more works like Guy Endore's Werewolf of Paris (1933). Yet refusing to be confined merely to a literary analysis, this study spans nearly the full range of ancient materials, considering etymological insights of key terms and ethnographical information about certain customs like the Anthid rite.

With this broad aggregation of evidence, Ogden highlights many persistent associations of stories concerning human transformations into wolves, especially the frequent links to ancient witches and ghosts. These associations take subtle forms, such as the wolves that surround the house of the Homeric Circe and the text's insinuations that these are formerly sailors now cursed into lupine shapes. Another example concerns the traditions surround the Hero of Temesa, long acknowledged as a ghost, but a figure that also contains a peculiar degree of lupine associations. Such features in a variety of texts and contexts testify to underlying strands of thought concerning ancient werewolfism, which are shown to have long-lasting continuity through the marshalling of medieval comparanda. Motifs familiar to modern popular culture are also exhibited, such as the 'identifying wound' motif, wherein an injury sustained in lupine form reveals the identity of the werewolf once the same injury is noticed in their human form. The myth of Lykaon has obvious relevance for these discussions as well, though by reserving that for the final chapter, Ogden is able highlight the importance of the myth through an exceptionally thorough collation of extant versions without allowing so popular of a story to dominate the book.

Perhaps one of the most notable reflections for its relevance to the folkloric study of werewolves in general is the observation at the end of the introduction about why there ever begun a tradition of transformation specifically into wolves. After all, we could potentially imagine a tradition of such transformations emerging with any other animals. Traditionally, the wolf has cited as the object of such thought because of its generic associations with wildness and, consequently, creatures that seem to an antithesis to civilization. Ogden, however, adds nuance to this time-worn conjecture, pointing to ancient associations of wolves as sociable pack animals, renown in the animal kingdom for cooperation and organization amongst themselves. The werewolf, then, rather than being entirely a desertion of society and civilization itself, rather may be a kind of adoption into an alternate type of society — that of the lupine world, rather than the anthropic world. In this regard, the alterity inherent in werewolfism suggests a more provocative conceptual contrast than the usual hackneyed and anthropocentric dichotomies of wildness/civilization. Alternate versions of civilization could be imagined in folkloric contexts and the notions of werewolves emerge as a curious means for humans to participate in such.

Aspects of chapter 3 in particular will also be germane to conceptual discussions of werewolf folklore in any period. This chapter centers on the variations of the synthesis between human and lupine associations in such transformations. The distinction between human carapace and wolf core (and vice versa), emerges as a fascinating way to conceptualize types of werewolfism and to what degree the lupine nature of such transformations was enmeshed with the human aspect, whether wholly a externally transformation of the body, or the lupine psychology also impacting upon a person's mind.

Overall, this is a remarkably well put together monograph, which manages to be incredibly readable for both classicists and popular audiences. Every story and element relevant to ancient werewolfism here is explained with meticulous detail, yet consistently retains a grounded focus on the storytelling aspects of such ideas. As observed in the conclusion, ideas about werewolves (and a mélange of other supernatural entities) seem to have been particularly popular at dinner parties in the ancient world, with the most prominent literary refractions of such phenomena being the dinner party in Petronius and Lucian's Philopseudes. Thus, Ogden manages retain, and, indeed, rekindle the lively elements of such stories as intriguing tales that seem to have inspired conversion for millennia, marshalled here for modern enthusiasts.

[Abbigail K · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and interesting investigation of the werewolf in the ancient world. I found the first two chapters and the introduction very useful to my own research on Greek vampire folklore and blood-drinking demons in religion. Ogden's concluding point was compelling, but I wish he would have spent more time throughout his chapters introducing and integrating his final conclusion that, at the end of the day, the werewolf is a figure used to tell a good story. Although I have some counterpoints (which I will probably summarize and present elsewhere), Ogden presents a fascinating deconstruction of the werewolf figure shown in Greek literary sources.

[RedDagger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly detailed two-fold analysis of ancient werewolf mythology: on the one hand, we get heaps of context from mythology in general to situate the handful of werewolf texts we have; on the other, there's plenty of connections made between werewolf texts (ancient and newer) to develop general trends specific to werewolves.

My one complaint is that the fifth chapter, on the Hero of Temesa, felt rather weak compared to the other chapters - but it's still a worthwhile read for a comprehensive understanding of the subject.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly dry but otherwise exhaustive look at ancient werewolves and werewolf-like entities.

[Patricia Woodruff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author does a good job of researching the werewolf in Greek and Roman lore, touching on French, German, Celtic, Norse and Livonian lore. However, I find it odd that he skips examining Slavic lore on the topic since those lands are so rich in werewolf stories. Probably because he is just looking at written accounts, rather than oral histories (a common weakness of current academia.)