Editing Shapeshifting (section)

===Greco-Roman===
{{main|Metamorphoses in Greek mythology}}
[[File:Gerbrand van den Eeckhout 005.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Vertumnus]], in the form of an old woman, wooing [[Pomona (mythology)|Pomona]], by [[Gerbrand van den Eeckhout]].]]

Examples of shapeshifting in [[classical literature]] include many examples in [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'', [[Circe]]'s transforming of [[Odysseus]]' men to [[pig]]s in [[Homer]]'s ''[[The Odyssey]]'', and [[Apuleius]]'s Lucius becoming a [[donkey]] in ''[[The Golden Ass]]''. [[Proteus]] was known among the gods for his shapeshifting; both [[Menelaus]] and [[Aristaeus]] captured him to obtain information, and they succeeded only by holding on through his many transformations. [[Nereus]] told [[Heracles]] where to find the Apples of the [[Hesperides]] for the same reason.

The [[Oceanid]] [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]], the first wife of Zeus and the mother of the goddess Athena, was believed to be able to change her appearance into anything she wanted. In one story, her pride led Zeus to trick her into transforming into a fly. He then swallowed her because he feared that he and Metis would have a son who would be more powerful than Zeus himself. Metis, however, was already pregnant. She stayed alive inside his head and built an armor for her daughter. The banging of her metalworking made Zeus have a headache, so Hephaestus clove his head with an axe. Athena sprang from her father's head, fully grown, and in battle armor.

In [[Greek mythology]], the transformation is often a punishment from the gods to humans who crossed them.
* [[Zeus]] transformed King [[Lycaon of Arcadia|Lycaon]] and his children into wolves (hence lycanthropy) as a punishment for either killing Zeus' children or serving him the flesh of Lycaon's own murdered son [[Nyctimus]], depending on the exact version of the myth.
* [[Ares]] assigned [[Alectryon (mythology)|Alectryon]] to keep watch for [[Helios]] the sun god during his affair with [[Aphrodite]], but Alectryon fell asleep, leading to their discovery and humiliation that morning. Ares turned Alectryon into a [[rooster]], which always crows to signal the morning and the arrival of the sun.
* [[Demeter]] transformed [[Ascalabus]] into a lizard for mocking her sorrow and thirst during her search for her daughter [[Persephone]]. She also turned King [[Lyncus]] into a [[lynx]] for trying to murder her prophet [[Triptolemus]].
* [[Athena]] transformed [[Arachne]] into a spider for challenging her as a weaver and/or weaving a tapestry that insulted the gods. She also turned [[Nyctimene (mythology)|Nyctimene]] into an owl, though in this case it was an act of mercy, as the girl wished to hide from the daylight out of shame of being raped by her father.
* [[Artemis]] transformed [[Actaeon]] into a stag for [[Voyeurism|spying]] on her bathing, and he was later devoured by his hunting dogs.
* [[Galanthis]] was transformed into a [[weasel]] or [[cat]] after interfering in [[Hera]]'s plans to hinder the birth of [[Heracles]].
* [[Atalanta]] and [[Hippomenes]] were turned into lions after making love in a temple dedicated to Zeus or [[Cybele]].
* [[Io (mythology)|Io]] was a priestess of [[Hera]] in [[Ancient Argos|Argos]], a nymph who was raped by Zeus, who changed her into a [[Cattle|heifer]] to escape detection.
* Hera punished young [[Tiresias]] by transforming him into a woman and, seven years later, back into a man.
* King [[Tereus]], his wife [[Procne]], and her sister [[Philomela]] were all turned into birds (a [[hoopoe]], a [[swallow]] and a [[nightingale]] respectively), after Tereus raped Philomela and cut out her tongue, and in revenge she and Procne served him the flesh of his murdered son [[Itys]] (who in some variants is resurrected as a [[European goldfinch|goldfinch]]).
* [[Callisto (mythology)|Callisto]] was turned into a bear by either [[Artemis]] or [[Hera]] for being impregnated by Zeus.
* [[Selene]] transformed [[Myia (mythology)|Myia]] into a fly when she became a rival for the love of [[Endymion (mythology)|Endymion]].

While the Greek gods could use transformation punitively&nbsp;– such as [[Medusa]], who turned to a monster for having sexual intercourse ([[rape]]d in Ovid's version) with [[Poseidon]] in [[Athena]]'s temple&nbsp;– even more frequently, the tales using it are of amorous adventure. Zeus repeatedly transformed himself to approach mortals as a means of gaining access:<ref>Richard M. Dorson, "Foreword", p xxiv, Georgias A. Megas, ''Folktales of Greece'', University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1970</ref>
* [[Danaë]] as a shower of gold
* [[Europa (mythology)|Europa]] as a bull
* [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]] as a [[swan]]
* [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]], as an [[eagle]]
* [[Alcmene]] as her husband [[Amphitryon]]
* [[Hera]] as a [[cuckoo]]
* [[Aegina (mythology)|Aegina]] as an eagle or a flame
* [[Persephone]] as a serpent
* [[Io (mythology)|Io]], as a cloud
* [[Callisto (mythology)|Callisto]] as either Artemis or [[Apollo]]
* [[Nemesis (mythology)#Origins|Nemesis]] (Goddess of retribution) transformed into a goose to escape [[Zeus#Divine offspring|Zeus]]' advances, but he turned into a swan. She later bore the egg in which [[Helen of Troy#Birth|Helen of Troy]] was found.

[[File:Apollo and Daphne (Bernini) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Gianlorenzo Bernini]], [[Apollo]] pursuing an unwilling [[Daphne]] who transforms into a laurel tree]]
[[Vertumnus]] transformed himself into an old woman to gain entry to [[Pomona (mythology)|Pomona]]'s orchard; there, he persuaded her to marry him.

In other tales, the woman appealed to other gods to protect her from rape, and was transformed ([[Daphne]] into laurel, [[Corone (crow)|Corone]] into a crow). Unlike Zeus and other gods' shapeshifting, these women were permanently metamorphosed.

In one tale, [[Demeter#Demeter and Poseidon|Demeter]] transformed herself into a mare to escape [[Poseidon#Lovers|Poseidon]], but Poseidon counter-transformed himself into a stallion to pursue her, and succeeded in the rape. [[Caeneus|Caenis]], having been raped by [[Poseidon]], demanded of him that she be changed to a man. He agreed, and she became [[Caeneus]], a form he never lost, except, in some versions, upon death.

[[Clytie (Oceanid)|Clytie]] was a nymph who loved Helios, but he did not love her back. Desperate, she sat on a rock with no food or water for nine days looking at him as he crossed the skies, until she was transformed into a purple, sun-gazing flower, the [[heliotropium]].

As a final reward from the gods for their hospitality, [[Baucis and Philemon]] were transformed, at their deaths, into a pair of trees.

[[Eos]], the goddess of the dawn, secured immortality for her lover the [[Troy|Trojan]] prince [[Tithonus]], but not eternal youth, so he aged without dying as he shriveled and grew more and more helpless. In the end, Eos transformed him into a [[cicada]].

In some variants of the tale of [[Narcissus (mythology)|Narcissus]], he is turned into a [[Narcissus (plant)|narcissus]] flower.

[[File:Cadmus teeth.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|"Cadmus Sowing the Dragon's Teeth" by [[Maxfield Parrish]]]]
Sometimes metamorphoses transform objects into humans. In the myths of both [[Jason]] and [[Cadmus]], one task set to the hero was to sow [[Dragon's teeth (mythology)|dragon's teeth]]; on being sown, they would metamorphose into belligerent warriors, and both heroes had to throw a rock to trick them into fighting each other to survive. [[Deucalion]] and [[Pyrrha]] repopulated the world after a flood by throwing stones behind them; they were transformed into people. [[Cadmus]] is also often known to have transformed into a dragon or serpent towards the end of his life. [[Pygmalion (mythology)|Pygmalion]] fell in love with [[Galatea (mythology)|Galatea]], a statue he had made. [[Aphrodite]] had pity on him and transformed the stone into a living woman.