Long before feral children such as Mowgli and Tarzan became popular subjects of fiction, comics, and videogames, mythology had stories of children who were raised by wolves. Many of these children grew up to become leaders, the founders of great cities, or the companions of kings and gods.

Enkidu

In Babylonian mythology, Anuru created Enkidu as a rival and companion for Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Until he was tamed, Enkidu sucked the milk of wild animals and drank water beside them. He ran with wild cattle and gazelles, but unspecified wild animals are also mentioned separately in Tablet 1 of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

After the woman Shamhat had tamed him and the gazelles and cattle no longer recognized him, Enkidu used his warrior skills to drive off lions and wolves, so the shepherds could rest at night. Later, Enkidu assisted Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba, the guardian monster of the Cedar Forest, and Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven.

However, the gods decreed that unlike Gilgamesh, Enkidu had no reason for fighting the Bull of Heaven. To punish him, they struck Enkidu with a severe illness, which slowly kills him.

Enkidu’s death spurred Gilgamesh to seek immortality by finding the legendary flood hero Utnapishtim, who had previously been granted immortality by the gods. Gilgamesh, the best of mortal men, could not pass the tests. The only immortality left to mortals was their creations.

Ashina

According to an old Turkic legend, an injured boy, the only survivor of a battle, was nursed back to health by a she-wolf. Later, the wolf and he became the parents of 10 half-human boys. The leader of these boys was called Ashina. Ashina later founded the Ashina clan, which ruled the Gorturk nomadic empire.

The earliest of these nomadic empires, the Xiongnu Empire, was so feared by China that it built the Great Wall of China in the 4th century AD to protect China from Xiongnu attacks. The Gorturk empire ruled by the Ashina clan came later, in the 6th century AD. Another version of the ancestor story was that the founder of the Ashina was a man from the Suo nation, north of Xiongnu, whose mother was both a wolf and a goddess.

Even after the collapse of the Gorturk Empire, the Ashina clan was still considered nobility and possibly sacred among the Turkic clans. A later Mongolian tribe which was called Chonos, the tribe of wolf, was also considered sacred among the Mongolians.

The story of Ashina inspired the name of the Grey Wolves, who were originally the youth organization of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party. Today, the Grey Wolves are considered an ultra-nationalist terrorist organization who support Chechen independence and pan-Turkic causes. They don’t usually operate outside of the Turkic countries. However, Mehmet Ali Agca, who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981, was a member of the Grey Wolves.

Romulus and Remus

These wolf-raised twins were the legendary founders of Rome. According to the legend, they were descendents of the Trojan prince Aeneas through their maternal grandfather Numitor. However, Numitor’s brother Amulius usurped the throne of Alba Longa, killed both of Numitor’s sons, and forced Numitor’s daughter Rhea to become a Vestal Virgin.

Despite this, Rhea became pregnant with twins, either by Mars, the god of war, or by Hercules, a cult god who the Romans believed was the founder of Herculaneum. When Romulus and Remus were born, Amulius had them exposed on a hilltop. They survived because they were found and suckled by a she-wolf. In some versions, the wolf was the goddess Luperca or Lupa, who protected sheep from wolves.

Later, Romulus and Remus were found and raised by a shepherd. When they grew up and discovered who they were, they killed Amulius and restored their grandfather Numitor to the throne.

Romus and Remus were natural leaders and wished to found their own city. Remus wanted to build it on the Aventine Hill, but Romulus wanted to build it on the Palatine Hill. Both hills later became part of the Seven Hills of Rome, which is named after Romulus, according to the legend.

However, the twins agreed to decide the original settlement through bird augury. They didn’t agree on the results. Shortly after Romulus started building his city, Remus was killed, possibly for obstructing construction. Some versions say that his brother killed him, while St. Jerome’s version says that Romulus’ commander Fabius killed him.

In Late Republican Roman chronology, the founding of Rome by Romulus was dated at around 758-728 BC. In addition to the city of Rome, Romulus was credited with creating the Roman legions and the Roman Senate. Acording to Ovid, the festival of Lemuria was invented by Romulus to appease the ghost of Remus.