Lycaon
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- a king of Arcadia, father of Callisto, whom Jupiter, because he had defiled his altar with human sacrifices, turned into a wolf; acc. to Ovid, because he had tried to murder Jupiter himself, who was his guest, Ov. M. 1, 198; Hyg. Fab. 176 sq.; Cic. Fam. 3, 10, 10; acc. Lycaona, Ov. M. 2, 526.—
- B His grandson, also called Arcas, Ov. F. 6, 225.—Hence,
- II
- A Lycāŏnĭus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Lycaon, Lycaonian: mensa, Ov. Ib. 433: parens, i.e. Callisto, id. M. 2, 496; cf. Cat. 66, 66: Arctos, i.e. Callisto as the constellation of the Bear, Ov. F. 3, 793; 6, 235. —Hence, axis, the northern sky, where the constellation of the Bear is situated, Ov. Tr. 3, 2, 2.—
- B Lycāŏnis, ĭdis, f., the daughter of Lycaon, i.e. Callisto, Ov. F. 2, 173.
(Λυκάων).
1. A son of Pelasgus by Meliboea, the daughter of Oceanus, and king of Arcadia (Apollod. 3.8.1). Others call him a son of Pelasgus by Cyllene (Schol. ad Eurip. Orest. 1642), and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1.11, 13) distinguishes between an elder and a younger Lycaon, the former of whom is called a son of Aezeus and father of Deianeira, by whom Pelasgus became the father of the younger Lycaon. The traditions about him place Lycaon in very different lights, for according to some, he was a barbarian who even defied the gods (Ov. Met. 1.198, &c.), while others describe him as the first civiliser of Arcadia, who built the town of Lycosura, and introduced the worship of Zeus Lycaeus. It is added that he sacrificed a child on the altar of Zeus, and that during the sacrifice he was changed by Zeus into a wolf (Paus. 8.2.1; comp. Ov. Met. 1.237). By several wives Lycaon became the father of a large number of sons, some say fifty, and others only twenty-two; but neither their number nor their names are the same in all accounts (Apollod., Dionys. ll. cc.; Paus. 8.3.1; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 313). The sons of Lycaon are said to have been notorious for their insolence and impiety, and Zeus visited them in the disguise of a poor man, with a view to punish them. They invited him to a repast, and on the suggestion of one of them, Maenalus, they mixed in one of the dishes set before him the entrails of a boy whom they had murdered. According to Ovid Zeus was recognised and worshipped by the Arcadian people, but Lycaon, after a vain attempt to kill the god, resolved to try him with the dish of human flesh (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 481; Eratosth. Catest. 8). However, Zeus pushed away the table which bore the horrible food, and the place where this happened was afterwards called Trapezus. Lycaon and all his sons, with the exception of the youngest (or eldest), Nyctimus, were killed by Zeus with a flash of lightning, or according to others, were changed into wolves (Ov., Tzetz. ll. cc.; Paus. 8.3.1). Some say that the flood of Deucalion occurred in the reign of Nyctimus, as a punishment of the crimes of the Lycaonids. (Apollod. l.c.)
2. A son of Priam and Laothoe, was taken and slain by Achilles. (Hom. ll. 3.333, 21.35, &c., 22.46, &c.)
3. A Lycian, the father of Pandarus. (Hom. Il. 2.826, 5.197.) [L.S]
(Λυκάων). A mythical king of Arcadia, son of Pelasgus and Meliboea (daughter of Oceanus) or Cyllené, and father of Callisto. He is said to have founded on Mount Lycaeum the town Lycosura, the oldest that the sun looked upon, and to have sacrificed a child to Zeus on the altar he had raised on the highest peak of the mountain, on account of which he was changed into a wolf. (See Lycaea.) Another legend relates that he had fifty impious sons. When Zeus came to them in the guise of a beggar, in order to put their contempt of the gods to the test, they followed the advice of Maenalus, the eldest, and set before him the entrails of a boy which had been mixed with the sacrifice. The god, however, threw the table over and killed Lycaon and his sons with lightning, with the exception of Nyctimus, the youngest, whom Gaea saved by firmly holding the right hand of Zeus. During the reign of Nyctimus the deluge connected with the name of Deucalion covered the land as a punishment for the impiety of Lycaon and his sons. See Pausan. viii. 2.
- reigns over the Arcadians and begets fifty sons: Apollod. 3.7.7
- builds Lycosura and founds Lycaean games: Paus. 8.2.1
- pride and impiety of his sons: Apollod. 3.7.7, Apollod. 3.8.1
- they tempt Zeus by mixing the bowels of a child with the sacrifices: Apollod. 3.8.1
- all but the youngest son are blasted by Zeus with thunderbolts: Apollod. 3.8.1
- their impiety the cause of Deucalion's flood: Apollod. 3.8.1
- Lycaon father of Callisto, according to some: Apollod. 3.8.1; Paus. 1.25.1
- sacrifices babe to Lycaean Zeus and is turned into a wolf: Paus. 8.2.3
- Apollod. E.3.34
- Apollod. 3.12.5
- captured by Achilles: Apollod. E.3.32