Lycaon was a king of Arcadia who lived and ruled before the Great Flood, the one that actually happened. His name originates from the Greek word Λύκος (Lykos) which is the wolf. He also named a nearby mountain Lycaeon (wolfish) and built a temple to honor Zeus, known in the area with the adjective «Lycaeos» (wolf-like).

According to the story, when the allmighty Zeus visited his kingdom, Lycaon decided to put his divinity into a test. In order to do that he invited Zeus to a grand feast, so he could honor him appropriately. He then served to the god the cooked body of a child. His son Nyktimos, his grandson Arkas or some Mollosian (modern day Epirus in Greece) prisoner are mentioned in various sources as the victim. Zeus realised the sick and twisted game of Lycaon and as punishment, transformed him into a wolf.

There is of course a more rational way to explain the myth. Arcadians were such an old Greek tribe that the rest of the Greeks were considering them ancient. So ancient in fact, that they believed Arcadians existed on earth before the moon appears on sky. Such old people would most probably have animistic religious beliefs and rituals, something common among early human societies.

One characteristic ritual is for the Shaman, the Witch-Doctor, the High-Priest of the tribe to wear animal skins in order to use them as a mean, a tool that will help him/her to absorb the natural powers around him/her, easier. In addition, the animal skin will give him/her the abilities of the creature that a human lacks, such as speed, strength and agility.

Lykaon was probably a Shaman practicing such kind of animistic ceremonies long before gods and godesses appear. As the years passed and these «heretic» rituals faded, the stories transformed him to an ancient king, giving him a place to the vast Greek mythology.