Pan (god) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pan
God of nature, the wild, shepherds, flocks and of mountain wilds
Mask of the god Pan, detail from a bronze stamnoid situla, 340–320 BCE, part of the Vassil Bojkov Collection, Sofia, Bulgaria
Abode	Arcadia
Symbol	Pan flute, goat
Personal information
Consort	Syrinx, Echo, Pitys
Children	Silenos, Iynx, Krotos, Xanthus (out of Twelve)
Parents	many variations including: Hermes and Driope, Aphrodite, or Penelope
Siblings	Satyrs, Laertes, Circe, Maenads
Roman equivalent	Faunus

Pan was the Ancient Greek god of pastures, flocks, the mountain wilds and rustic music. In Rome, he was called Faunus. He had the body of a satyr (legs of a goat and body of a human). He was also known to produce an earsplitting sound called a "panic" that caused extreme pain to any who heard it, this sound is actually the origin of the English word panic. He was the lord of the wild and as such, all forest dwelling creatures answer to him, including (but not exclusively) satyrs, nymphs, and forest creatures.

Pan was commonly believed to be dead, as a passing sailor heard a call as he passed an island proclaiming "Tell them the great lord Pan is dead." The sailor spread the news, leading to the belief that he is dead, however some still believe that he lives on today, slowly dying as the wilds of the world are destroyed.

Family

Pan is the child of Hermes and an (unnamed) daughter of Dryops. Several authors state that Pan is the son of Hermes and "Penelope", apparently Penelope, the wife of Odysseus. However, later sources call Pan the son of Mercury and Penelope.

Mythology

"Sweet, piercing sweet was the music of Pan's pipe" reads the caption on this depiction of Pan (by Walter Crane)

Pan once had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo, the god of the lyre, and challenged him to a trial of skill. Tmolus, the mountain-god, was chosen to judge. Pan blew on his pipes and gave great satisfaction with his rustic melody to himself and to his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and all but Midas agreed with the judgment. Midas dissented and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer and turned Midas' ears into those of a donkey.

Worship

The worship of Pan began in Arcadia. Arcadia was a district of mountain people. Arcadian hunters used to scourge the statue of the god if they had been disappointed in the chase.

Pan was not worshipped in temples or other built edifices, but in natural settings, usually caves or grottoes such as the one on the north slope of the Acropolis of Athens. These are often referred to as the Cave of Pan. The only exceptions are the Temple of Pan on the Neda River gorge in the southwestern Peloponnese – the ruins of which survive to this day – and the Temple of Pan at Apollonopolis Magna in ancient Egypt. In the 4th century BC Pan was depicted on the coinage of Pantikapaion.

Interesting facts about Pan

• Pan appears to be older than the Olympians. Herodotus wrote that according to Egyptian chronology, Pan was the most ancient of the gods.
• He gave Artemis her hunting dogs and taught the secret of prophecy to Apollo.
• Pan could be multiplied into a swarm of Pans. In Nonnus' Dionysiaca, 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.
• 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 the new vicar, W. H. Seddon, who mistakenly believed that the festival had been ancient in origin.

Images for kids

• 

  Pan illustrated in the Flemish magazine Regenboog. Draft for the woodcut Pan of Jozef Cantré. Published in 1918.

• 

  Mask of the god Pan, detail from a bronze stamnoid situla, 340–320 BC, part of the Vassil Bojkov Collection, Sofia, Bulgaria]

• 

  Representations of Pan on 4th-century BC gold and silver Pantikapaion coins.

• 

  Pan, painted by Mikhail Vrubel in 1899.

• 

  Pan depicted on the cover of The Wind in the Willows

• 

  Francisco Goya, Witches' Sabbath (El aquelarre), of Basque mythology. 1798. Oil on canvas, 44 × 31 cm. Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid.

See also

In Spanish: Pan (mitología) para niños