Pan (Panic God)
godThe goat-footed god of shepherds, wilds, and rustic music whose sudden appearance caused the terror that bears his name: panic.
The Myth
Pan was the son of Hermes and a nymph (traditions vary on which one), born with goat legs, horns, and a beard so startling that his mother fled in terror. Hermes wrapped the infant in a hare skin and carried him to Olympus, where the gods — especially Dionysus — delighted in the wild child. Pan lived in Arcadia, playing his syrinx (pan-pipes) in mountain caves and pursuing nymphs through the forests. His pipes were fashioned from the reeds into which the nymph Syrinx transformed to escape him. Pan could induce sudden, irrational terror — panikon deima — in individuals or entire armies. At Marathon in 490 BC, the Athenians credited Pan with sending panic into the Persian ranks. In gratitude, they dedicated a cave sanctuary to him on the slopes of the Acropolis. Pan's death is uniquely famous: Plutarch records that during the reign of Tiberius, a voice cried across the sea, Great Pan is dead. This announcement was interpreted in late antiquity as marking the end of paganism.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Hermes
godThe swift messenger of the gods and guide of souls to the underworld. Hermes was the cleverest of...
Hermes (Messenger)
godHermes was the messenger god, guide of souls, patron of travellers and thieves — the most versatile...
Hermes (Trickster God)
godThe quicksilver god who guides souls to the Underworld, protects travellers, and invented lying on...
Hermes Kriophoros
godAn epithet of Hermes meaning "ram-bearer," depicting the god carrying a ram on his shoulders, an...
Pan
godThe goat-legged god of wilderness, shepherds, and rustic music. Pan's sudden appearance caused...
Pan (God)
godPan was the goat-legged god of the wild, shepherds, and mountain meadows whose sudden appearance...
Arcadia
placeArcadia was both a real mountainous region in the central Peloponnese and an idealised landscape of...
Syrinx
nymphSyrinx was a nymph who fled Pan's pursuit and was transformed into marsh reeds — from which Pan...
Dionysus
godGod of wine, ritual madness, and theatrical performance. Dionysus was the only Olympian born of a...
Dionysus (Twice-Born)
godThe god born twice — once from his mother's womb and once from Zeus's thigh — who brought wine,...
Dionysus Eleuthereus
godAn epithet of Dionysus as the Liberator, worshipped at the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens where the...
Hermes Psychopompos
godIn his role as Psychopompos, Hermes escorted the souls of the dead to the underworld — the only...