Creatures of the Night II
We have vampires now we need werewolves. What is a werewolf? I know that you all seen some of form of
werewolves portray in movies, books, TVs, etc. But is truly a meaning of a
werewolf? A werewolf is a human who has the ability to turn into a wolf-like
beast or a wolf. Though it is once though you must either be bitten by a
werewolf or have a placed with said curse placed on your in order to become a
werewolf many other ways are also effective. For example; a man, after
stripping of your human clothing, you place either a wolf-skin belt or the
entire wolf hide like a Viking berserker. Another method is to apply a cursed
ointment to the skin. It is said to that a man who drinks from a specific
magical river or even out of a single footprint of a werewolf may himself
become this beast.
One of the earliest accounts of werewolves is found in Greek mythology. The
story of Lycaon, which originated in Greek mythology, has been viewed as one of
the first werewolf stories ever. According to Greek legend, Lycaon was king of
Arcadia, son of Pelasgus and Meliboea and a cruel leader of an evil cult.
Rumors of the atrocities committed by Lycaon and his cult made their way back
to the Great God Zeus, who decided to investigate. He witnessed the cult and
strange practice. Zeus found these rumors to be fact, and decided to reveal his
identity to the cult. The cult members immediately paid homage to Zeus,
however, Lycaon did not believe that he was a real God and prepared a feast for
him consisting of human flesh. If Zeus truly was a God, he would recognize the
meal and decline to eat it, since cannibalism was a great sin. Zeus immediately
noticed what the feast consisted of. Lycaon
also ordered people to murder Zeus while he slept, to test his immortality.
Zeus became angry as a result of his actions. To avoid Zeus's wrath, Lycaon fled to the
countryside. Once there he found out what Zeus had in store for him, slowly he and
his fifty son began to transform into a man-wolf. The term "lycanthropy" was
derived from Lycaon's name.
This gave rise to an annual sacrifice in which the clansmen
of Arcadia would gather on the slopes of Mount Lykaion – or Wolf Mountain – for
a similar ritual sacrifice to Lykaios Zeus. The flesh of a sacrificed young
male would be mingled with the entrails of a wolf and presented to Lykaios
Zeus; any young man who ate of the flesh would then be turned into a wolf for
nine years. If the werewolf restrained from eating human flesh during the nine
years, he would be restored to his human form in the tenth year. If not, he
would be cursed to remain a wolf forever.
A werewolf traditionally possesses supernatural strength and
amplified senses as well as the natural hunting instincts and weapons of the
wolf, like menacing jaws and claws. Therefore, they are formidable monsters and
very hard to kill. One of the most ancient talismans against lycanthropy is the
herb wolfsbane (said to have grown from the saliva of Cerberus, the
three-headed dog guardian of the Greek underworld, when Hercules brought him up
to the surface world). Other herbs that legends say are effective as werewolf
repellents include rye, mistletoe, and mountain ash (rowan).
Werewolves are not affected by religious symbols like
crucifixes and holy water (unlike their counterpart monsters, vampires), but in
modern fiction, they are vulnerable to weapons containing silver, such as
silver bullets or silver blades. The silver bullet is the most iconic
anti-werewolf weapon, but in many stories, anything silver causes agonizing pain
if it touches the beast. Therefore, to be most certain of killing the monster,
a werewolf hunter should carry good quantities of wolfsbane, rye grains,
mistletoe, and mountain ash leaves or wood, and be armed with a variety of
well-made silver weapons.
Since it is likely that a werewolf will overpower a human in
close combat, it is essential to have a gun or two custom-designed to shoot
silver bullets at a long range; once disabled by the gun, the werewolf can be
finished off if necessary using a sword or axe with a silver-plated blade. If you don’t have silver weapon then a high
power assault rifle or weapon that pack one hell of a punch.
tip on surviving werewolves's attack
Very intersting.I did not know about the Zeus story. I am getting to fall in love withyou blog more and more. Thanks for this wonderful story.
ReplyDeleteRay