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Werewolves Characteristics

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Werewolves: Werewolves have found a new popularity in the 21st century with the rise of the Twilight series. However, they originated from ancient myths. Unlike other mythical creatures, there is not a lot of art depicting werewolves, showing that they were not as popular back then as they are now. Despite the rare depiction of them in art, werewolves were still known to the classical world. Herodotus writes about werewolves: It may be that these people are wizards; for the Scythians, and the Greeks settled in Scythia, say that once a year every one of the Neuri becomes a wolf for a few days and changes back again to his former shape. Those who tell this tale do not convince me; but they tell it nonetheless, and swear to its truth. Pliny…show more content…
Lupin 's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Both of these werewolves were forced to become a dangerous beast without having a choice. There is also the sense that when one becomes a werewolf they leave all their humanity behind. They have the same bloodthirsty characteristics. Remus states, “It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead.” He discusses of how he “became a fully-fledged monster once a month.” Another layer of fear is added when reading about the werewolf because Rowling states, “the werewolf actively seeks humans in preference to any other prey.” The modern version of a werewolf is that a man becomes a blood-thirsty creature once a month when a full moon is out. To become a werewolf in Rowling’s world, one will have to be bitten by a werewolf in its wolfish form. The ancient Greek sources differ on the explanation of this creature. Herodotus says that a person would change once a year, whereas Pliny states that a person could be a wolf for a whole nine years. It seems as though Ovid’s version of the werewolf would be a wolf forever. It is clear that while werewolves originated from ancient Greek myth they have developed and have a more detailed storyline in modern…show more content…
We got among the tombstones:my man went aside to look at the epitaphs, I sat down with my heart full of song and began to count the graves. Then when I looked round at my friend, he stripped himself and put all his clothes by the roadside. My heart was in my mouth, but I stood like a dead man. He made a ring of water round his clothes and suddenly turned into a wolf…a wolf got into the house and worried all our sheep, and let their blood like a butcher. The key elements that are in modern literature are introduced in this passage. The essentials of a modern day werewolf is that the transformation happens at night when the moon is out and the wolf loses all humanity that it once has and becomes a monster. Rowling is referring to the Roman myth of the werewolf rather than the Greek. This is also shown by Lupin’s name, Remus. This is referring to the founders of Rome, Remus and Romulus and will be discussed in the chapter about
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