The Werewolf of Ancient Arcadia

Arcadia in the central Peloponnese is the birthplace of the werewolf myth in Western tradition. The ancient geographer Pausanias recorded the ritual of Mount Lykaion: every nine years, a man chosen by lot would eat a portion of human entrails mixed with animal flesh at the altar of Zeus Lykaios, and was then transformed into a wolf for nine years.

Today, shepherds who graze their flocks on the slopes of Mount Lykaion report seeing large wolf-like figures walking upright between dusk and midnight during the summer solstice. The altar of Zeus Lykaios on the summit is surrounded by an "abaton" — a forbidden zone — where no shadows are cast, even in full sunlight.