Pan

was the god of shepherds, of huntsmen, and of all the inhabitants of the country. He was the son of Mercury by Dryope, according to Homer. Some give him Jupiter and Call is to for parents, others Jupiter and Ybis or Oneis. Lucian, Hyginus, . , support that he was the son of Mercury and Penelope the daughter of Icarius, and that the god gained the affections of the prince under the form of a goat, as she tended her father’s flocks on mount Taygetus, before her marriage with the king of Ithaca. Some authors maintain that Penelope became mother of Pan during the absence of Uly es in the Trojan war, and that he was the offspring of all the suitors that frequented the palace of Penelope, whence he received the name of Pan , which signifies all or everything . Pan was a monster in appearance; he had two small horns on his head, his complexion was ruddy, his nose flat, and his legs, thighs, tail, and feet were those of a goat. The education of Pan was entrusted to a nymph of Arcadia, called Sinoe, but the nurse, according to Homer, terrified at the sight of such a monster, fled away and left him. He was wrapped up in the skin of beasts by his father, and carried to heaven, where Jupiter and the gods long entertained themselves with the oddity of his appearance. Bacchus was greatly pleased with him, and gave him the name of Pan. The god of shepherds chiefly resided in Arcadia, where the woods and the most rugged mountains were his habitation. He invented the flute with seven reeds, which he called Syrinx , in honour of a beautiful nymph of the same name, to whom he attempted to offer violence, and who was changed into a reed. He was continually employed in deceiving the neighbouring nymphs, and often with succe . Though deformed in his shape and features, yet he had the good fortune to captivate Diana, and of gaining her favour, by transforming himself into a beautiful white goat. He was also enamoured of a nymph of the mountains called Echo, by whom he had a son called Lynx. He also paid his addre es to Omphale queen of Lydia, and it is well known in what manner he was received. See: Omphale . The worship of Pan was well established, particularly in Arcadia, where he gave oracles on mount Lycæus. His festivals, called by the Greeks Lycæa , were brought to Italy by Evander, and they were well known at Rome by the name of the Lupercalia. See: Lupercalia . The worship, and the different functions of Pan, are derived from the mythology of the ancient Egyptians. This god was one of the eight great gods of the Egyptians, who ranked before the other 12 gods, whom the Romans called Consentes . He was worshipped with the greatest solemnity over all Egypt. His statues represented him as a goat, not because he was really such, but this was done for mysterious reasons. He was the emblem of fecundity, and they looked upon him as the principle of all things. His horns, as some observe, represented the rays of the sun, and the brightne of the heavens was expre ed by the vivacity and the ruddine of his complexion. The star which he wore on his breast was the symbol of the firmament, and his hairy legs and feet denoted the inferior parts of the earth, such as the woods and plants. Some suppose that he appeared as a goat because, when the gods fled into Egypt, in their war against the giants, Pan transformed himself into a goat, an example which was immediately followed by all the deities. Pan, according to some, is the same as Faunus, and he is the chief of all the Satyrs. Plutarch mentions that, in the reign of Tiberius, an extraordinary voice was heard near the Echinades, in the Ionian sea, which exclaimed that the great Pan was dead. This was readily believed by the emperor, and the astrologers were consulted; but they were unable to explain the meaning of so supernatural a voice, which probably proceeded from the imposition of one of the courtiers who attempted to terrify Tiberius. In Egypt, in the town of Mendes, which word also signifies a goat , there was a sacred goat kept with the most ceremonious sanctity. The death of this animal was always attended with the greatest solemnities, and, like that of another Apis, became the cause of a universal mourning. As Pan usually terrified the inhabitants of the neighbouring country, that kind of fear which often seizes men, and which is only ideal and imaginary, has received from him the name of panic fear . This kind of terror has been exemplified not only in individuals, but in numerous armies, such as that of Brennus, which was thrown into the greatest consternation at Rome, without any cause or plausible reason. Ovid , Fasti , bk. 1 , li. 396 ; bk. 2 , li. 277 ; Metamorphoses , bk. 1 , li. 689 .— Virgil , Georgics , bk. 1 , li. 17 ; Æneid , bk. 8 , li. 343 ; Georgics , ch. 3 , li. 392 .— Juvenal , satire 2, li. 142 .— Pausanias , bk. 8 , ch. 30 .— Silius Italic us , bk. 13 , li. 327 .— Varro , de Lingua Latina , bk. 5 , ch. 3 .— Livy , bk. 1 , ch. 5 .— Dionysius of Halicarna us , bk. 1 .— Hero dot us , bk. 2 , chs. 46 & 145, . — Diodorus , bk. 1 .— Orpheus , Hymns , poem 10.— Homer , Hymn to Pan .— Lucian , Dialog i Deorum , Dialogue of Pan and Hermes (Mercury).— Apollo dor us , bk. 1 , ch. 4 .