Pan
The son of
Hermes and a nymph,
Pan was half goat half man who lived in the forests of Arcadia surrounded
by satyrs and maenads.
He was a fertility god, protecting the fields, woods, shepherds and goatherds.
He was believed to make he goats pregnant.
Pan had invented the flute when the nymph Syrinx had turned into reeds in
order to escape him. Blowing the reeds he created beautiful music, but in
spite of that, he did not manage to make any nymph fall in love of him since
he was so ugly. He also loved beautiful shepherds.
Christianity took some of Pan's attributes when creating the image of the
Devil.
The ancient Greeks believed that when their herds suddenly started running
or shuddered with fear without any apparent explanation, it was Pan who scared
them. For this we have the word panic - sudden and total fear.
When the Persians attacked Athens
in 480 BC the messenger Pheidippedes
met Pan in Arcadia. Pan asked him why the Athenians did not worship him and
said he would gladly help them against their enemy. So, he appeared on the
side of the Athenians at the battle of Marathon, and a cult was founded to
his honour in a cave on the northern side of the Acropolis.The Romans called Pan Silvanus.