AnthonyT

pan



When Pan was born and the nurse saw the face and the beard of the newborn child, she was afraid and fled. For this reason it has been said that irrational terrors (panic) come from Pan. Pan has a goat's feet and two horns, and wears a lynx-pelt. He is the god of woods and pastures, and also the mountain peaks and rocky crests are his domain. He wanders along the hills, slaying wild beasts.

Pan fell in love with the Arcadian nymph Syrinx (an imitator of [|Artemis] both in manners and in appearance), who had until then eluded the pursuit of both [|SATYRS] and gods. Sirynx desdained Pan, and spurning his love and prayers, refused to take him as a sweetheart, who was neither man nor goat. The god then pursued her, but she came to the stream of the river Ladon in western Arcadia, and no longer being able to escape, she asked to the nymphs of the river to change her form. And the nymphs, listening to her prayers, turned her into marsh reeds. So when Pan wished to hold her, there was nothing left of her except the reeds and the sound which the air produced in them. On hearing it, however, Pan was charmed, and thinking of the nymph, said to himself in triumph:



Gods cannot die, immortality being an attribute of all divine beings. Yet there have been some exceptions to this rule. One of them is [|Chiron], who, suffering from an incurable wound, was granted mortality by [|Zeus]. Another is the first [|Dionysus], who was destroyed by the [|TITANS]. Then on the death of Pan a rumour arose in the first century AD, recorded by Plutarch in his 'The Obsolescence of Oracles'.

As for the death among such beings, he have heard the words of a man who was not a fool nor an impostor. The father of Aemilianus the orator, to whom some of you have listened, was Epitherses, who lived in our town and was my teacher in grammar. He said that once upon a time, in making a voyage to Italy, he embarked on a ship carrying freight and many passengers. It was already evening when, near the Echinades Islands, the wind dropped, and the ship drifted near Paxi. Almost everybody was awake, and a good many had not finished their after-dinner wine. Suddenly from the island of Paxi was heard the voice of someone loudly calling Thamus, so that all were amazed.

Thamus was an Egyptian pilot, not known by name even to many on board. Twice he was called and made no reply, but the third time he answered; and the caller, raising his voice, said, 'When you come opposite to Palodes, announce that Great Pan is dead.' On hearing this, all, said Epitherses, were astonished and reasoned among themselves whether it was better to carry out the order or to refuse to meddle and let the matter go. Under the circumstances Thamus made up his mind that if there should be a breeze, he would sail past and keep quiet, but with no wind and a smooth sea about the place, he would announce what he had heard.

So, when he came opposite Palodes, and there was neither wind nor wave, Thamus, from the stern, looking toward the land, said the words as he had heard them: 'Great Pan is dead.' Even before he had finished, there was a great cry of lamentation, not of one person, but of many, mingled with exclamations of amazement. As many persons were on the vessel, the story was soon spread abroad in Rome, and thamus was sent for by Tiberius Caesar. Tiberius became so convinced of the truth of the story that he caused an inquiry and investigation to be made about Pan; and the scholars, who were numerous at his court, conjectured that he was the son born of [|Hermes] and [|Penelope] ."



Unlike the other, more heroic Grecian deities, Pan's adventures tended toward the comical. King Midas (after his recovery from the gilding incident) was asked to judge a musical contest between Pan and Apollo. When he chose Pan, Apollo punished the king by giving him the ears of an ass. In another farce Pan was in persuit of Omphale, the queen of Lydia, but on the crucial night she had swapped clothes with Hercules (don't ask) and so Pan mistakenly got into bed with him instead and got kicked across the room. After that he banned all clothing at his religious rites and spread rumours that Hercules was a transvestite.



Pan had many attributes as a god. He was the god of goats, and sheep, and their shepherds. He was the god of bee keeping. He was also a god of music, playing upon the reed pipes he made from the transformed body of the nymph Syrinx (the one that got away). It was said that this music could inspire panic (the root of the word) in any who heard it. Sometimes he was a minor god of the sea. He was a god of prophesy and was also famous for being randy (Greek women with a track record were known as Pan girls). Above all he was the god of nature: meadows, forests, beasts, and even human nature.