Pan
In Greek Mythology, god of flocks, shepherds and agriculture, he was taken as the one in
charge of their fertility and responsible for the good or bad luck of hunters: in his homeland, Arcadia, the rangers
could even kick his statue if the god forgot to drive them to their preys. Being protector of beehives and inhabitant
of Central Greece, he was never wanted in the Olympus owing to his inferiority, unusual aspect and tendency to
turning order into Chaos.
It is not clear who were his parents: some say Zeus was his adoptive brother and that he was son of Hermes (depicted
as god of fertility more than once) Hermes and of Driope, of Callisto (the two of them nymphs) or of Penelope (etym.
"with a net over the face"), Odysseus' wife. Other sources believe him son of Chronos and Rea (owing
to him being too old to be son of Zeus, Hermes or Penelope) and yet two other versions pray that either he was
son of Penelope and all those that had pretended her hand during Odysseus' absence or that he was son of Hermes
with Enoe, one of the Maenads. This last hypothesis would explain why Pan's mother appears as "Penelope",
since the Maenads used to paint their faces with a net of battle-paint, imitating the design in the Penelope duck.
In spite of the doubts on his roots, it was clear that the sight of Pan as a being half goat half human with horns
terrified his mother, who abandoned him to the care of the nymphs among which he grew up.
Pan loved to dwell in isolation in mountains or caves and he was always calm and festive of character except when
he was perturbed: then, he frightened the eventual travelers and bypassing animals with a sudden shout that sunk
the mortals in a deep panic (a word derived from Pan, although the original etymology of the name was "the
one who nourishes" or either "to graze").
In spite of not being respected either by many mortals or by other gods, he participated frequently in orgies with
the Maenads while they were drunk and was able to conquer Selene's heart. His powers and gifts were useful for
the Olympic gods: Hermes sold to Apollo a pipe created by Pan with the reeds in which the nymph Syringe had turned
while she escaped from the god and Zeus used his capacity of creating chaos when he overthrew Chronos. Apollo also
made Pan teach him the art of prophecy. Pan was praised for the invention of the flute, but, apparently, he was
not the inventor, but Athena, who played the instrument until she saw herself in the water and thought that the
thing made her face look ridiculous.
Pan is believed to have been the only Greek god to die. In the second half of the 1st century of our Era, Plutarch
(essayist and priest in Delfos) wrote that Tamo (or Thamus), a sailor of a ship traveling to Italy, when he was
passing near the Isle of Paxi, heard a divine voice that commanded him to tell the humanity that the god Pan was
dead. This fact is mentioned by Robert Graves in his "Greek Myths", with a joyful comment: Tamo may have
misunderstood the true message of the voice: instead of "Thamus Pan-megas Tethnece" (The all great Tamuz
is dead), he understood "Tamo, the Great Pan is Dead". This double message was heard during Tiberius
reign and was later associated with either the victory of Christ over any pagan god or with Christ's Passion.