| Pan | |
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Other Names |
Pan, Faunus |
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First Appearance |
Greek Myth |
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Created by |
Greek Myth |
Origin[]
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Pan is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, rustic music and impromptus, and companion of the nymphs. He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a faun or satyr. With his homeland in rustic Arcadia, he is also recognized as the god of fields, groves, wooded glens, and often affiliated with sex; because of this, Pan is connected to fertility and the season of spring.
In Roman religion and myth, Pan's counterpart was Faunus, a nature god who was the father of Bona Dea, sometimes identified as Fauna; he was also closely associated with Sylvanus, due to their similar relationships with woodlands. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Pan became a significant figure in the Romantic movement of western Europe and also in the 20th-century Neopagan movement.
One of the famous myths of Pan involves the origin of his pan flute, fashioned from lengths of hollow reed. Syrinx was a lovely wood-nymph of Arcadia, daughter of Ladon, the river-god. As she was returning from the hunt one day, Pan met her. To escape from his importunities, the fair nymph ran away and didn't stop to hear his compliments. He pursued from Mount Lycaeum until she came to her sisters who immediately changed her into a reed. When the air blew through the reeds, it produced a plaintive melody. The god, still infatuated, took some of the reeds, because he could not identify which reed she became, and cut seven pieces (or according to some versions, nine), joined them side by side in gradually decreasing lengths, and formed the musical instrument bearing the name of his beloved Syrinx. Henceforth, Pan was seldom seen without it.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
All appearances of Pan published before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
- Discourse on the Worship of Priapus (1786)
- Endymion (1818)
- The Great God Pan (1894)
- The Wind in the Willows (1908)
- The Blessing of Pan (1927)
Gallery[]
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- True Comics #1
- Treasure Chest of Fun & Facts #250
- Meteor Comics #1
- Boy Comics #10
- Adventures into the Unknown #110
- America's Greatest Comics #5
Notes[]
- Pan was an inspiration for Peter Pan. In Peter Pan stories, Peter represents a golden age of pre-civilisation in both the minds of very young children (before enculturation and education), and in the natural world outside the influence of humans. Peter Pan's character is both charming and selfish - emphasizing our cultural confusion about whether human instincts are natural and good, or uncivilised and bad.