Pan (god)
Pan | |
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God of nature, the wild, shepherds, flocks, and mountain wilds Arcadia | |
Symbol | Pan flute, goat |
Personal information | |
Parents | Hermes and a daughter of Dryops, or Penelope |
Consort | Syrinx, Echo, Pitys |
Children | Silenus, Iynx, Krotos, Xanthus (out of Twelve) |
Equivalents | |
Roman equivalent | Faunus Inuus |
Part of a series on |
Ancient Greek religion |
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In
In
Origins
Many modern scholars consider Pan to be derived from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European god *Péh₂usōn, whom they believe to have been an important pastoral deity[5] (*Péh₂usōn shares an origin with the modern English word "pasture").[6] The Rigvedic psychopomp god Pushan (from PIE zero grade *Ph₂usōn) is believed to be a cognate of Pan. The connection between Pan and Pushan, both of whom are associated with goats, was first identified in 1924 by the German scholar Hermann Collitz.[7][8] The familiar form of the name Pan is contracted from earlier Πάων, derived from the root *peh₂- (guard, watch over).[9] According to Edwin L. Brown, the name Pan is probably a cognate with the Greek word ὀπάων "companion".[10]
In his earliest appearance in literature, Pindar's Pythian Ode iii. 78, Pan is associated with a mother goddess, perhaps Rhea or Cybele; Pindar refers to maidens worshipping Cybele and Pan near the poet's house in Boeotia.[11]
Worship
The worship of Pan began in
Being a rustic god, Pan was not worshipped in temples or other built edifices, but in natural settings, usually
Archaeologists, while excavating a
In the
Epithets
- Aegocerus (
- Lyterius (
- Maenalius (
Parentage
Numerous different parentages are given for Pan by different authors.
Like other nature spirits, Pan appears to be older than the
Herodotus wrote that according to Egyptian chronology, Pan was the most ancient of the gods; but according to the version in which Pan was the son of Hermes and Penelope, he was born only eight hundred years before Herodotus, and thus after the Trojan war.[i] Herodotus concluded that that would be when the Greeks first learnt the name of Pan.[34]
Mythology
Battle with Typhon
The goat-god
Erotic aspects
Pan is famous for his sexual prowess and is often depicted with a
There was a legend that Pan seduced the moon goddess Selene, deceiving her with a sheep's fleece.[39]
One of the famous myths of Pan involves the origin of his
Pan also loved a nymph named Pitys, who was turned into a pine tree to escape him.[40] In another version, Pan and the north wind god Boreas clashed over the lovely Pitys. Boreas uprooted all the trees to impress her, but Pan laughed and Pitys chose him. Boreas then chased her and threw her off a cliff resulting in her death. Gaia pitied Pitys and turned her into a pine tree.[41]
According to some traditions, Pan taught Daphnis, a rustic son of Hermes, how to play the pan-pipes, and also fell in love with him.[42][43]
Women who had had sexual relations with several men were referred to as "Pan girls."[44]
Panic
Disturbed in his secluded afternoon naps, Pan's angry shout inspired panic (panikon deima) in lonely places.[45][46] Following the Titans' assault on Olympus, Pan claimed credit for the victory of the gods because he had frightened the attackers. In the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), it is said that Pan favored the Athenians and so inspired panic in the hearts of their enemies, the Persians.[47]
Music
In two late Roman sources, Hyginus[48] and Ovid,[49] Pan is substituted for the satyr Marsyas in the theme of a musical competition (agon), and the punishment by flaying is omitted.
Pan once had the audacity to compare his music with that of
All of the Pans
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2021) |
Pan could be multiplied into a swarm of Pans, and even be given individual names, as in Nonnus' Dionysiaca, where the god Pan had twelve sons that helped Dionysus in his war against the Indians. Their names were Kelaineus, Argennon, Aigikoros, Eugeneios, Omester, Daphoenus, Phobos, Philamnos, Xanthos, Glaukos, Argos, and Phorbas.
Two other Pans were
Aegipan, literally "goat-Pan," was a Pan who was fully goatlike, rather than half-goat and half-man. When the Olympians fled from the monstrous giant Typhoeus and hid themselves in animal form, Aegipan assumed the form of a fish-tailed goat. Later he came to the aid of Zeus in his battle with Typhoeus, by stealing back Zeus' stolen sinews. As a reward the king of the gods placed him amongst the stars as the Constellation Capricorn. The mother of Aegipan, Aix (the goat), was perhaps associated with the constellation Capra.
Sybarios was an Italian Pan who was worshipped in the Greek colony of Sybaris in Italy. The Sybarite Pan was conceived when a Sybarite shepherd boy named Krathis copulated with a pretty she-goat amongst his herds.
"The great god Pan is dead"
According to the Greek historian
In
The 19th-century visionary
In modern times,
In more modern times, some have suggested a possible naturalistic explanation for the myth. For example,
The cry "The Great Pan is dead" has appealed to poets, such as John Milton, in his ecstatic celebration of Christian peace, On the Morning of Christ's Nativity line 89,[64] Elizabeth Barrett Browning,[65] and Louisa May Alcott.[66]
Influence
Iconography
Representations of Pan have influenced conventional popular depictions of the Devil. [67]
Literary revival
In the late-18th century, interest in Pan revived among liberal scholars. Richard Payne Knight discussed Pan in his Discourse on the Worship of Priapus (1786) as a symbol of creation expressed through sexuality. "Pan is represented pouring water upon the organ of generation; that is, invigorating the active creative power by the prolific element."[68]
John Keats's "Endymion" (1818) opens with a festival dedicated to Pan where a stanzaic hymn is sung in praise of him. Keats drew most of his account of Pan's activities from the Elizabethan poets. Douglas Bush notes, "The goat-god, the tutelary divinity of shepherds, had long been allegorized on various levels, from Christ to 'Universall Nature' (Sandys); here he becomes the symbol of the romantic imagination, of supra-mortal knowledge.'"[69]
In the late-19th century Pan became an increasingly common figure in literature and art. Patricia Merivale states that between 1890 and 1926 there was an "astonishing resurgence of interest in the Pan motif".[70] He appears in poetry, in novels and children's books, and is referenced in the name of the character Peter Pan.[71] In the Peter Pan stories, Peter represents a golden age of pre-civilisation in both the minds of very young children (before enculturation and education), and in the natural world outside the influence of humans. Peter Pan's character is both charming and selfish - emphasizing our cultural confusion about whether human instincts are natural and good, or uncivilised and bad. J. M. Barrie describes Peter as 'a betwixt and between', part animal and part human, and uses this device to explore many issues of human and animal psychology within the Peter Pan stories.[72]
Arthur Machen's 1894 novella The Great God Pan uses the god's name in a simile about the whole world being revealed as it really is: "seeing the Great God Pan". The novella is considered by many (including Stephen King) as being one of the greatest horror-stories ever written.[73]
In an article in Hellebore magazine, Melissa Edmundson argues that women writers from the 19th century used the figure of Pan "to reclaim agency in texts that explored female empowerment and sexual liberation". In Eleanor Farjeon's poem "Pan-Worship", the speaker tries to summon Pan to life after feeling "a craving in me", wishing for a "spring-tide" that will replace the stagnant "autumn" of the soul. A dark version of Pan's seductiveness appears in Margery Lawrence's Robin's Rath, both giving and taking life and vitality.
Pan is the eponymous "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" in the seventh chapter of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows (1908). Grahame's Pan, unnamed but clearly recognisable, is a powerful but secretive nature-god, protector of animals, who casts a spell of forgetfulness on all those he helps. He makes a brief appearance to help the Rat and Mole recover the Otter's lost son Portly.
The goat-footed god entices villagers to listen to his pipes as if in a trance in Lord Dunsany's novel The Blessing of Pan (1927). Although the god does not appear within the story, his energy invokes the younger folk of the village to revel in the summer twilight, while the vicar of the village is the only person worried about the revival of worship of the old pagan god.
Pan features as a prominent character in Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume (1984).
The British writer and editor Mark Beech of Egaeus Press published in 2015 the
In the Percy Jackson novels, author Rick Riordan uses "The Great God Pan is dead" quote as a plot point in the novel The Sea of Monsters, and in The Battle of the Labyrinth Pan is revealed to be in a state of half-death.
Revival in music
Pan inspired pieces of classical music by Claude Debussy. Syrinx, written as part of incidental music to the play Psyché by Gabriel Mourey, was originally called "Flûte de Pan". Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune was based on a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé.
The story of Pan is the inspiration for the first movement in Benjamin Britten's work for solo oboe, Six Metamorphoses after Ovid first performed in 1951. Inspired by characters from Ovid's fifteen-volume work Metamorphoses, Britten titled the movement, "Pan: who played upon the reed pipe which was Syrinx, his beloved."
The British rock band Pink Floyd named its first album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in reference to Pan as he appears in The Wind in the Willows. Andrew King, Pink Floyd's manager, said Syd Barrett "thought Pan had given him an understanding into the way nature works. It formed into his holistic view of the world."[75]
Brian Jones, a founding member of The Rolling Stones, strongly identified with Pan.[75] He produced the live album Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka, about a Moroccan festival that evoked the ancient Roman rites of Pan.
Musician Mike Scott of the Waterboys refers to Pan as the archetypal force within us all, and talks about his search of "The Pan Within", reflected in songs such as "The Return of Pan".[76]
Revived worship
In the English town of Painswick in Gloucestershire, a group of 18th-century gentry, led by Benjamin Hyett, organised an annual procession dedicated to Pan, during which a statue of the deity was held aloft, and people shouted "Highgates! Highgates!" Hyett also erected temples and follies to Pan in the gardens of his house and a "Pan's lodge", located over Painswick Valley. The tradition died out in the 1830s, but was revived in 1885 by a new vicar, W. H. Seddon, who mistakenly believed that the festival had been ancient in origin. One of Seddon's successors, however, was less appreciative of the pagan festival and put an end to it in 1950, when he had Pan's statue buried.[77]
Occultists
Neopaganism
In 1933, the Egyptologist
See also
- Aristaeus
- Dryad
- Golden Age
- Kokopelli
- Pan in popular culture
- Pan, sculpture by Roger White
- Pangu
- Puck
- Cernunnos
- Green Man
- Woodwose
- 4450 Pan
Notes
- ^ Herodotus was born about 485 BC, so by his reckoning Pan would have been born around 1285—earlier than the Trojan War as estimated by most of the Greek antiquarians, and a century before the date reckoned by Eratosthenes.
References
- ^ S2CID 73507440.
- ^ "Pan" (Greek mythology) entry in Collins English Dictionary.
- ^ Edwin L. Brown, "The Lycidas of Theocritus Idyll 7", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 1981:59–100.
- ^ The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, Hutton, Ronald, chapter 3
- ISBN 978-0-19-929668-2.
- ^ "*pa-". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ H. Collitz, "Wodan, Hermes und Pushan," Festskrift tillägnad Hugo Pipping pȧ hans sextioȧrsdag den 5 November 1924 1924, pp 574–587.
- ^ R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 1149.
- ISBN 978-0-19-928075-9.
- ^ Edwin L. Brown, "The Divine Name 'Pan'", Transactions of the American Philological Association 107 (1977:57–61), notes (p. 59) that the first inscription mentioning Pan is a 6th-century dedication to ΠΑΟΝΙ, a "still uncontracted" form.
- ^ The Extant Odes of Pindar at Project Gutenberg. See note 5 to Pythian Ode III, "For Heiron of Syracuse, Winner in the Horse-race."
- ^ Theocritus. vii. 107
- ISBN 978-0-521-41870-6.
- ISBN 0 900652 46 2
- ^ Altar to Greek god found in wall of Byzantine church raises questions
- ^ Eliade, Mircea (1982) A History of Religious Ideas Vol. 2. University of Chicago Press. § 205.
- West, M. L.(1983) The Orphic Poems. Oxford:Oxford University Press. p. 205).
- Lucan, ix. 536; Lucretius, v. 614.
- ^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Lyterius
- ^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Maenalius
- ^ "Regenboog. Nr.1 Verluid". lib.ugent.be. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ Hard, p. 215: "accounts of his parentage vary greatly"; Gantz, p. 110: "his parentage was quite disputed".
- Homeric Hymn to Pan (19), 34–9.
- ^ Hard, p. 215; March, p. 582. According to Hard, the idea of Penelope being the mother "is so odd that it is tempting to suppose that this Penelope was not originally the wife of Odysseus, but an entirely different figure, perhaps an Arcadian nymph or the above-mentioned daughter of Dryops".
- ^ Hard, p. 215–6; Herodotus, 2.145.
- Fabulae 224.
- , 3.402.110.25].
- ^ Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.4.1, E.7.38.
- ^ Pausanias, 8.12.5.
- ^ Frazer, p. 305 n. 1.
- ^ The Homeric Hymn to Pan provides the earliest example of this wordplay, suggesting that Pan's name was born from the fact that he delighted "all" the gods.
- ^ Smith, William, ed. (1867). Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. Vol. III. Boston. p. 106. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Pan "even boasted that he had slept with every maenad that ever was—to facilitate that extraordinary feat, he could be multiplied into a whole brotherhood of Pans."
- ^ Herodotus, Histories II.145
- ^ "In this story Hermes is clearly out of place. He was one of the youngest sons of Zeus and was brought into the story only because... he was a master/thief. The real participant in the story was Aigipan: the god Pan, that is to say. in his quality of a goat (aix). (Kerenyi, p. 28). Kerenyi points out that Python of Delphi had a son Aix (Plutarch, Moralia 293c) and detects a note of kinship betrayal.
- Hyginus, Poetic Astronomy 2.18: see Theony Condos, Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans 1997:72.
- ^ Kerenyi, p. 95.
- ^ Dio Chrysostom, Discourses, vi. 20.
- an earlier account that Pan wrapped himself in a fleece to disguise himself as a sheep.
- ^ Smith s.v. Pitys
- ^ Libanius, Progymnasmata, 1.4
- ^ Cohen, pp 169-170
- . Clement, a Christian pope, was trying to discredit pagans and their beliefs in his works, however other finds seem to support this particular claim.
- ISBN 0-14-009737-6.
- ^ "Pan (mythology) – Discussion and Encyclopedia Article. Who is Pan (mythology)? What is Pan (mythology)? Where is Pan (mythology)? Definition of Pan (mythology). Meaning of Pan (mythology)". Knowledgerush.com. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ Robert Graves,The Greek Myths, p.101
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 662–663.
- Fabulae, 191 (on-line source).
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 11.146ff (on-line source).
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses XI: 146-194
- ^ Moralia, Book 5:17.
- ^ "Where or what was Palodes?" Archived 16 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
- ISBN 0-14-009737-6.
- ^ François Rabelais, Fourth Book of Pantagruel (Le Quart Livre), Chap. 28 [1].
- ^ Guillaume Postel, De orbis terrae concordia, Book 1, Chapter 7.
- ISBN 9781905574131. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ Chesterton, G. K. (1925). "Chapter VIII. The End of the World". The Everlasting Man. Hodder & Stoughton. Part I. On the Creature Called Man – via CCEL.
- ISBN 978-0-89870-116-6.
- ISBN 978-0-486-43701-9.
- ^ Reinach, in Bulletin des correspondents helleniques 31 (1907:5–19), noted by Van Teslaar.
- ^ Van Teslaar, "The Death of Pan: a classical instance of verbal misinterpretation", The Psychoanalytic Review 8 (1921:180–83).
- ^ Van Teslaar 1921:180.
- ^ William Hansen (2002) "Ariadne's thread: A guide to international tales found in classical literature" Cornell University Press. pp.133–136
- ^ Kathleen M. Swaim, "'Mighty Pan': Tradition and an Image in Milton's Nativity 'Hymn'", Studies in Philology 68.4 (October 1971:484–495)..
- ^ See Corinne Davies, "Two of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Pan poems and their after-life in Robert Browning's 'Pan and Luna'", Victorian Poetry 44,.4, (Winter 2006:561–569).
- ^ Alcott, Louisa May (September 1863). "Thoreau's Flute" (PDF). The Atlantic Monthly: 280–281.
- ^
ISBN 9780801494093. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
The iconography of Pan and the Devil [...] coalesce: cloven hooves, goat's legs, horns, beast's ears, saturnine face, and goatee. [...] The iconographic influence of Pan upon the Devil is enormous.
- ^ Payne-Knight, R. Discourse on the Worship of Priapus, 1786, p.73
- ISBN 978-0-14-042210-8.
- ^ Merivale, Patricia. Pan the Goat-God: his Myth in Modern Times, Harvard University Press, 1969, p.vii.
- ISBN 9780451520883.
- ISBN 978-1-4438-9107-3.
- ^ The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
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ignored (help) - ISBN 978-0-957160682.
- ^ a b Soar, Katy (2022). "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn". Hellebore. 8 (The Unveiling Issue): 10–19.
- ^ a b Soar, Katy (2020). "The Great Pan in Albion". Hellebore. 2 (The Wild Gods Issue): 14–27.
- ^ Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft pp 161–162.
- ISBN 978-0-19-820744-3.
Sources
- .
- Borgeaud, Philippe (1979). Recherches sur le Dieu Pan. Geneva University.
- Bowra, Cecil Maurice, Pindari carmina: cum fragmentis, Oxford, E. Typographeo Clarendoniano, 1947. Internet Archive.
- Burkert, Walter (1985). Greek Religion. Harvard University Press.
- .
- Cohen, Beth (22 November 2021). Not the Classical Ideal: Athens and the Construction of the Other in Greek Art. ISBN 978-90-04-11618-4.
- Diotima (2007), The Goat Foot God, Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
- Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
- .
- Homeric Hymn 19 to Pan, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Fabulae, in The Myths of Hyginus, edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. Online version at ToposText.
- ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3(Vol. 2).
- Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1.
- Kerényi, Károly (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. Thames & Hudson.
- Laurie, Allison, "Afterword" in Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie, Signet Classic, 1987. ISBN 978-0-451-52088-3.
- Malini, Roberto (1998), Pan dio della selva, Edizioni dell'Ambrosino, Milano.
- March, Jenny, Cassell's Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Cassell & Co., 2001. .
- Ruck, Carl A. P.; Danny Staples (1994). The World of Classical Myth. Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 0-89089-575-9.
- Servius, Commentary on the Georgics of Vergil, Georgius Thilo, Ed. 1881. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library (Latin).
- Virgil, Georgics in Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics of Vergil. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Vinci, Leo (1993), Pan: Great God of Nature, Neptune Press, London.