WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: The Werewolf, Part 4 - Ancient Moon

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind, focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters. In time,

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<v Speaker 2>we've been discussing the roots of werewolf traditions, both in

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<v Speaker 2>prehistoric human history and in ancient mythology and literature. Based

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<v Speaker 2>on my readings, I think it's safe to say that

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<v Speaker 2>werewolf traditions emerge from various elements in human history and

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<v Speaker 2>the human psyche, taking on different forms depending on time

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<v Speaker 2>and location, and most importantly influencing later traditions legends, folk tales,

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<v Speaker 2>and of course fictional takes as well. When we look

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<v Speaker 2>for specific examples of early or even the earliest literary

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<v Speaker 2>examples of werewolfs, it really depends on how narrowly or

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<v Speaker 2>widely we refine our search. For instance, the oldest surviving

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<v Speaker 2>work of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, features the wild

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<v Speaker 2>man and possible beast men in Keitu, and there's certainly

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<v Speaker 2>some crossover from here into later werewolf traditions, but to

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<v Speaker 2>be clear, in Ketu, not a werewolf more interesting as

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<v Speaker 2>Daniel Ogden brings up in the werewolf in the ancient world.

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<v Speaker 2>The epic of Gilgamesh does feature reference to the goddess

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<v Speaker 2>Ishtar having turned humans into various beasts, including a wolf.

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<v Speaker 2>Much later, though still ancient to us, Homer's the Odyssey

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<v Speaker 2>from the eighth century BCE refers to the witch Circe

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<v Speaker 2>transforming humans not only into pigs her specialty, but into

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<v Speaker 2>wolves as well. These are both cases of transformative witchcraft,

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<v Speaker 2>and while Ogden contends that stories like this certainly feed

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<v Speaker 2>into werewolf traditions, we'd be going overboard to single either

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<v Speaker 2>out as a true case zero for literary or mythic lacanthropy,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing on the importance of temporary and even deliberate transformation

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<v Speaker 2>with connection between the two forms. Ogden points to a

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<v Speaker 2>tale that is often singled out as the most obvious

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<v Speaker 2>werewolf story from the ancient world, one appearing in the

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<v Speaker 2>satiricon of Gaius Petronius Arbiter from the late first century CE.

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<v Speaker 2>The Latin satire contains a story told by the character

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<v Speaker 2>Nicros at a banquet, and it roughly goes as follows.

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<v Speaker 2>Back when the freedman Nicros was still a slave he

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<v Speaker 2>fell in love with the wife of an innkeeper, and

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<v Speaker 2>would sneak off to her whenever he could. One night,

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<v Speaker 2>when the master of the house was away, Nicros persuaded

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<v Speaker 2>the current HouseGuest, quote a soldier as brave as Orcus,

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<v Speaker 2>to accompany him on the midnight journey. Shortly afterwards, they

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<v Speaker 2>found themselves in an acropolis amongst the tombs, where the

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<v Speaker 2>moon shone down in them like the midday sun. And

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<v Speaker 2>then Nicros observed the soldier in a most shocking and

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<v Speaker 2>remarkable act. He took off all his clothes, neatly, piled

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<v Speaker 2>them up urinated in a circle around them, and then

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<v Speaker 2>transformed into a wolf. The wolf howled and ran away,

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<v Speaker 2>and when Nekroes tried to touch the clothes that the

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<v Speaker 2>soldier had left within the circle of urine, he found

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<v Speaker 2>that the clothing had turned to stone. In fear, he

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<v Speaker 2>hurried on to see the innkeeper's wife, whose name was Melissa,

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<v Speaker 2>and she told him that if he'd arrived earlier, he

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<v Speaker 2>could have helped them, for a wild wolf had attacked

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<v Speaker 2>their livestock, draining their blood. Before they were able to

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<v Speaker 2>drive the beast away with a spear to the neck,

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<v Speaker 2>Nicros began his way home after that, passing where the

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<v Speaker 2>clothing had been stacked, but finding only splashes of blood there,

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<v Speaker 2>And when he finally reached his master's house, he found

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<v Speaker 2>a doctor attending to the soldier who had suffered a

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<v Speaker 2>grievous neck wound. Now we can easily identify the key

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<v Speaker 2>attributes of temporary deliberate transformation with connection between the two forms,

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<v Speaker 2>as well as various flourishes that would remain popular in

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<v Speaker 2>werewolf fiction up through modern times. Thus it's pretty definitive. Furthermore,

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<v Speaker 2>Ogden contends that this one is quote one really good

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<v Speaker 2>quirking story, which is key because the tale first and

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<v Speaker 2>foremost serves as entertainment with humorous wrinkles concerning the storyteller,

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<v Speaker 2>while also somewhat reflecting popular beliefs and the contemporary appetite

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<v Speaker 2>for fantastic tales infused with the supernatural. In short, it's

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<v Speaker 2>a werewolf story doing what werewolf stories have always done,

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<v Speaker 2>and that is entertained. Visual depictions are less definitive as

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<v Speaker 2>we often lack the full context of what we're looking at.

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<v Speaker 2>Is it a mere wolf, a human disguised as a wolf,

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<v Speaker 2>or merely wearing a wolf's pelt. There are various stopping

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<v Speaker 2>points before we arrive at full werewolf. Even as we

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<v Speaker 2>contend with images tied to known tales, such as the

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<v Speaker 2>Satiricon or the myth of Lycaean theory, anthropic figures can

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<v Speaker 2>likewise mean various things. Still acknowledging all of this, some

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<v Speaker 2>images do read strongly as werewolf, at least to us

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<v Speaker 2>Modern viewers across the Gulf of time consider the sixth

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<v Speaker 2>century Etruscan pontic plate, which seems to depict a furry,

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<v Speaker 2>bipedal humanoid with a wolf's head. The context is unclear,

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<v Speaker 2>though probably linked in some way to Hercules and the

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<v Speaker 2>centaur depicted elsewhere on the plate. The theoryanthropic figure here

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<v Speaker 2>may represent death or the wolf man combination here may

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<v Speaker 2>reference the god Faunas, who in Ovid's metamorphosis attempts to

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<v Speaker 2>rape Hercules while Hercules is dressed in his lover amphies clothing.

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<v Speaker 2>We're reminded in all of this that the werewolf is

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<v Speaker 2>a monster. It is a thing, a form that illustrates

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<v Speaker 2>various ideas, observations, and comparisons, and any of these ideas, observations,

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<v Speaker 2>or comparisons may essentially summon an image comparable to the werewolf,

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<v Speaker 2>completely on their own, detached in whole or in part

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<v Speaker 2>from any particular werewolf tradition. That's it for now, But

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<v Speaker 2>next week we will continue our journey and we will

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<v Speaker 2>turn our attention to the female werewolf. Tune in for

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<v Speaker 2>additional episodes of The Monster Fact, The Artifact, or Anomilia

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<v Speaker 2>Stupendium each week. As always, you can email us at

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<v Speaker 2>contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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