The earliest surviving example of man-to-wolf transformation is found in The Epic of Gilgamesh, from around 2,100 BC. But the werewolf as we now know it first appeared in ancient Greece and Rome.

Perhaps the earliest written werewolf tale in the West comes from the mythical Greek king Lycaon, who is said to have tested Zeus’ divinity by feeding him a child (yeah, you know where this is ...

"The Greek werewolf is closely related to the vampire. The lycanthropist falls into a cataleptic trance, during which his soul leaves his body, enters that of a wolf and ravens for blood.