Damarchus

In the year 400 B.C. in Ancient Greeks, there lived a boxer named Damarchus who was said to shape shifted in the form of a wolf for nine years before he was able to revert back to his original human form.

The account of Damarchus can be found in the works of Pausanias “Description of Greeks.”  He said:

 "As to the boxer, by name Damarchus, an Arcadian of Parrhasia, I cannot believe (except, of course, his Olympic victory) what romancers say about him, how he changed his shape into that of a wolf at the sacrifice of Lycaean (Wolf) Zeus, and how nine years after he became a man again. Nor do I think that the Arcadians either record this of him, otherwise it would have been recorded as well in the inscription at Olympia, which runs:-- This statue was dedicated by Damarchus, son of Dinytas'ss, Parrhasian by birth from Arcadia." 

The description of Damarchus in the work of Pausanias is a mere two sentence long, but it has helped some of the enthusiast to trace the origin of the werewolves.  Pausanias never believed in the allegation that Damarchus was cursed to transform into a werewolf for nine years.  But the fact that Pausanias decided to include the account of the champion boxer that turn into a werewolf in his works means that the legend of the boxer is well known throughout Greece during that period in time.

Pausanias even wrote something about Lycaean sacrifice on the description of Greeks.  Recent discovery of the archaeologist shows evidence of sacrifice in Mt. Lykaion, dating back thousands of years before even they started worshipping Zeus.

The tale about the curse is still popular up to this day.  They said that if you eat the flesh of an adult male and spend your time in the company of the wolf can cause you to change into a form of a wolf for nine years.