Pan

shepherds and wild nature

Pan roams woods and pastures, protects flocks and shepherds, and loves music and dance.

💡 Did you know? His appearance (horns, goat legs, wild beard) later shaped the Christian image of the devil.

panic

The sudden, groundless terror that Pan could spread gave „panic“ its name.

💡 Did you know? At the Battle of Marathon, Pan is said to have struck such panic into the Persians that the Greeks won.

the pan flute

The pan flute (syrinx) arose from a nymph who turned into reeds to escape Pan.

💡 Did you know? Pan bound the reeds together in different lengths: creating the instrument still played today.

Faunus

For the Romans, Pan corresponds to the woodland god Faunus.

💡 Did you know? The word „fauna“ for the animal world derives from Faunus.

of Hermes

Pan is usually held to be a son of Hermes; even at birth his wild looks frightened his mother.

💡 Did you know? His name was later linked to the Greek „pan“ (all), as the „all-god“ of nature.

„Great Pan is dead“

An ancient account tells of a voice calling across the sea: „Great Pan is dead.“

💡 Did you know? Later interpretations saw in it (probably wrongly) the end of the ancient world of the gods.

a nymph

Fleeing Pan, she turned into a reed.

💡 Did you know? From the sounding reed Pan cut his pipes.

at midday

Whoever broke the midday rest risked panic terror.

💡 Did you know? Fear of “midday spirits” lived on for centuries.

Marathon

He would throw the Persians into panic, he promised.

💡 Did you know? Athens dedicated a grotto below the Acropolis in thanks.

Echo

Her reverberation has wandered hills and valleys ever since.

💡 Did you know? Her name lives on in the word echo.

goat legs and horns

Plus goat beard and hooves.

💡 Did you know? Christianity borrowed the form for its image of the devil.

Arcadia

The rugged shepherd country of the Peloponnese.

💡 Did you know? Poets later reimagined “Arcadia” as an idyll.