Feral Children of Myth and Legend
Classical myth and legend abound with stories of infants — who usually later become kings (and/or founders of cities) — being abandoned and suckled by animals. Romulus and Remus are the best-known example of a long tradition.
In Sumarian mythology (the Epic of Gilgamesh), Enkidu was said to have lived with gazelles.
Telephus
According to the Greek writer Apollodorus, the sons of Tyro, Neleus and Pelias, were set adrift by their mother on the Enipeus, rescued by a horse-herder, and suckled by a bitch and a mare respectively.
The classical historian Herodotus wrote that Cyrus had been suckled by a dog. How and Wells, in their notes on Herodotus, say that Sargon of Akkad was also suckled by a dog.
Semiramis, the semi-legendary queen of Assyria from the C9th BCE, was fed by doves.
According to Greek mythology, Telephus, the son of Hercules, was suckled by a doe.
Hippothous 2, son of Poseidon and Alope, was suckled by a mare.
The twins Lycastus 3 and Parrhasius, sons of Ares and Phylonome, were suckled by a wolf.
In the Arabian romance The History of Dulcarnain, the son of the vizier Xams is abandoned on an island and suckled by an antelope (four times a day, apparently).
Perhaps the most unlikely story is that of Meliteus, son of Zeus and Othreis, who was left exposed as a baby and saved by bees that fed him.
The camera symbol indicates there is a picture of the child.
A source document or eyewitness account is reproduced here.
There is extensive information for the children shown in bold.
Click on the child's name to read more about that child.
| Name | Sex | Location | Animals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jostedalsrypa | F | Jostedal, Norge | |||
| Romulus and Remus | M | wolves | |||
| Paris of Troy | M | bears | |||
| Sigurd | M | deer | |||
| Oisin | M | Eire | deer | ||
| Octavian | M | lioness | |||
| Atalanta | F | bear | |||
| Orson | M | bears | |||
| Enkidu | M | gazelles |
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