#Lycaon

[akeussel]

[thrivinghigh]

first lycaon of 2024

[tiifu-ndovu]

[snototter]

An African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) yawns in Botswana, Africa

by Fabrice Stoger

[nikoisme]

ClassicsTober Day 3: Asterion,

And ClassicsTober Day 4: Lycaon!

I missed these two because I was/am drowning in schoolwork :') hopefully I'll get day 5 out today as well

[mammalianmammals]

African Wild Dog aka Cape Hunting Dog (Lycaon pictus) in hot pursuit of an impala, family Canidae, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

ENDANGERED.

photograph by Chris Jolley @cdj_photo

[medusaspeach]

Classicstober Day 4: Lycaon ⁠⚡

For some context, Lycaon was an early king of Arkadia. He angered the god Zeus when he served him a meal containing human remains. As punishment, he was turned into a wolf.

He's depicted mid-transformation here, with Zeus flipping the table.

[blastymcsplodo]

[illustratus]

Achilles before the River Scamander after killing Lycaon (Iliad, Canto XXI)

— French School of the early 18th century

[greekmythcomix]

ClassicsTober23 4: Lycaon

King Lycaon’s disastrous testing of the gods by feeding them human flesh led to the flood of destruction (Deucalion’s story) caused Lycaon to be turned into a wolf, prompting later stories of the ‘versipellis’ or skinchanger/werewolf. So here he is, an original drawing, post-transformation, inspired by a Black-figure pottery style from Etruria.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/69716881@N02/28003941516

[apatura-iris-atelier]

ClassicsTober day 4 : Lycaon

I like this one. I really like this one. Making this guy as creepy and unhinged as possible was an absolute JOY.

[thrivinghigh]

werewolves can also do a biiig stretch

[scriptorsapiens]

Classicstober Day 4: Lycaon (𐀬𐀏𐀃)

Lycaon was an Arcadian king who tried to get one over on Zeus by feeding the god the flesh of one of his own sons. Zeus was enraged by the attempt and the kinslaying and turned Lycaon into a wolf who would eventually devour all of his living sons.

Lycaon is often called 'the first werewolf' but I reject that label for a few reasons. Firstly is because the concept of 'werewolf' as we think of it today (ie full moon and silver bullets) is a very modern concept so by definition Lycaon is not one. Secondly Lycaon never turns back into a human; for his deeds he is turned into a slavering animal and he never comes back. There are ancient greek werewolf-adjacent stories, but I don't think Lycaon should qualify.

For a little behind the scenes stuff, I always struggle with how to depict the divine, but in this case a silhouette with lightning both allowed me to set the tone and keep the mystery.

A fun thing about the linear B is that, while most of the time it is my best guess at how the Classical Greek would have been rendered (eg RU-KA-O instead of Lycaon) we actually do have Zeus' Linear B name preserved: 𐀇𐀺 (DI-WO) (PIE Sky Father represent).

The shattering wood columns are actually a fun thing I know about the Minoans; they would build inverted columns out of wood and paint them. I'm not sure if the Arcadians would have been so up to the fashions of the richer Mycenaeans/Minoans, but I needed to add something to make Lycaon's surroundings look kingly. I also don't know if the Mycenaeans wore crowns or diadems, but I decided to add one anyway. The pot is based on the shapes and patterns of Mycenaean ceramics.

Last but not least is Lycaon himself. When I was doing research for this piece I found some pictures of Lycaon half-turned, but they all felt to controlled and elegant (maybe just as an artifact of the time they were made). Here, since it is a punishment, I wanted to make it look horrifying, energetic, and painful. The hand-to-paw on the left was purely an accident that I decided to keep. I'm not sure if Lycaon partook of the horrific meal he meant to serve Zeus, but I don't think he would have objected, all things considered. That's why I gave him a bloody mouth in addition to the blood-covered hand. You can also see that his hair is turning from a dark, human color on his scalp to a lighter more lupine coat further down on his body, but the effect is a bit hard to spot considering the lighting.

[snototter]

An African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) in South Luangwa, Zambia, Africa

by Fabrice Stoger

[noctilionoidea]

I found out about classicstober really late but I really didn’t want to make that stop me lmao so here’s the first twelve days.

I decided to do things really simply because it’s a lot in little time and I also have stuff like planning a future site, working on school, portfolio day pray for me and college searches/applications. There’s aren’t all perfect but it was really fun and helped me figure out exactly how I wanted to portray certain characters!

Later on I might digitize these and try to make stickers (but I need to get a site up first so it’ll be a long time :/)

[adriles]

we’re all going to die terribly out here at least let me be the one to kill you man. come on it will be fun.dont be a coward now im going to die too