by Jason Mankey
Pan was never the most popular of Greek deities. There were no elaborate temples built for him outside of Arcadia, and his presence in myth is rather fleeting. However, Pan is a frequent motif in art, suggesting that he was popular in the ancient world, even if he wasn’t everyone’s favorite deity.
But what’s not to love about Pan? In the ancient world, Pan was the god of music, dance, seduction, possession, panic, lustfulness, shepherds, flocks, and rough sexuality.33 Pan’s gifts were generally joyous ones, and as we shall see, panic was dealt only to those who dishonored the god. Music, dance, and lustfulness are not necessities in life, but they do make it worth living. Pan might not have been essential in the way Helios (god of the sun) and Demeter (goddess of the grain) were, but honoring him was still important.
Pan was a liminal god, existing on the edges of civilized society, which might be why he appeals to so many Witches today. Unlike most Greek deities, he chose to make his home on Earth, generally confining himself to Arcadia and nearby areas of Greece. In Arcadia, Pan was a shepherd of goats, a fitting role for someone who prefers solitude to the hustle and bustle of city life. Shepherds spend most of their time away from others, living in nature with only their goats or sheep for company. Pan’s solitude is probably why he is sometimes credited with inventing masturbation.
In Arcadia, Pan was worshipped in temples, though his most holy places were entire mountains dedicated to him.34 Urbanites who wished to worship Pan most often did so a few miles outside of town. Instead of being worshipped in conveniently located temples, Pan was worshipped primarily in caves that often required a substantial walk. Caves were perfect for the worship of Pan, because in Greece they were seen primarily as a temporary dwelling, uncivilized and unfit to live in.35 They were also sometimes used by shepherds looking to escape an especially cold or harsh night before heading back into the woods.
Pan and The Gods of Olympus (and Beyond)
Though Pan’s origins generally lie in Arcadian Greece, he has connections to other places and other deities. The name Pan derives from the Indo-European root word peh, which means to “guard or watch over.” 36 (This is also the origin of the Latin word pasture, and the Greek root pa(s), which translates as “shepherd,” the origin of Pan’s name. Pan literally means “shepherd.” 37) Pan shares the origin of his name with the ancient Hindu (Vedic) deity Pusan. Like Pan, Pusan had an affinity for goats, and both were gods of pastures. Pan was a shepherd, while Pusan watched over herds of cattle.38
Pan’s father is generally given as Hermes in most Greek mythology, though that could vary depending on time and place. In Arcadia, Pan’s father was said to be the Titan Cronus (Saturn in Roman myth, and often spelled Cronos or Kronos), which would make Pan the brother of Zeus. In other parts of Greece, his father was said to be Apollo, and even when they weren’t linked as father/son, the two deities were still connected. Some myths tell of Pan teaching Apollo the art of prophecy, and Pan kept a cave at Delphi where it was said he divined using dice.39 Both gods were also musical, with Pan’s syrinx being the instrument of the common people and Apollo’s lyre the instrument of sophisticated folks.
But it’s with Hermes that Pan shares the most attributes. Both were pictured as and associated with shepherds. Hermes was also a phallic god, like Pan, and was sometimes depicted as just a penis.40 Hermes is most famous for being the messenger of the gods and overseeing travelers, and in Egypt, Pan was the god of “good journeying.” 41
As a shepherd, Pan would have had to hunt for his own food while watching his flocks, and Pan was seen by many as a hunting god. As a hunter, Pan’s style was rather primitive. Instead of using a bow, Pan was generally depicted with a lagobolon, a slightly curved hunting stick used primarily to kill small game such as hares. In addition to killing animals for food, Pan was also considered a master of animals, both wild and domestic.42
In Greek myth, Pan was a frequent companion of the god Dionysus. Like Pan, Dionysus spent a great deal of time on Earth (though Dionysus eventually moved to Mount Olympus) and was fond of the wineskin. Dionysus and Pan were also both phallic deities, with sexual activity strongly encouraged in some of their rites. Both were also popular with female followers, with women often taking the lead when it came time to participate in a ritual in honor of those deities.43
Though Pan never married, he was associated with several goddesses in ancient mythology and art. His most successful courtship was with Selene, the goddess of the moon, whom he seduced by wearing a lambswool cloak that reflected her beauty. (Selene was so beautiful that she chose to fall in love with her reflection, only to find Pan instead.) Pan’s courtship of Selene is more than a story of trickery; the two were worshipped together in Arcadia.44 It was also thought that the moon was the preferred companion of Pan, because its light is useful to shepherds keeping watch over their flocks.45
Pan was also friendly with the goddess Artemis, but not because the two had any great love affair. Like Pan, Artemis was a deity of wild spaces and of hunting, though Pan wasn’t quite as skilled as his Olympian relative.46 Pan and Artemis also shared a dislike for the institution of marriage, Pan because he was very much against monogamy, and Artemis because she chose to guard her own virginity.
Though not frequent companions in mythology, Pan and Aphrodite were often depicted together in art. At the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, there’s a striking sculpture of Aphrodite shooing away a horny Pan with her shoe while her son Eros (the Roman Cupid) looks on in delight. Some scholars believe that Aphrodite is actively fighting against the advances of Pan in the sculpture, but I find her posture and smile more playful than angry. That Eros, love, clutches one of Pan’s horns in the sculpture suggests an eventual and consensual coupling.
Pan also has connections to far more ancient pieces of Greek myth. The ancient Greek lyric poet Pindar called him the “dog of the great goddess,” a power older and stronger than that of Zeus or the Titans.47 An early version of the Mysteries of Demeter (most associated today with Eleusis) celebrated in Arcadia may have featured Pan in a significant role.48 What that role entailed exactly is hard to say, but a cave sacred to him was found near a spot where people were initiated into Demeter’s mysteries.
Demeter is most well known for being the goddess of the grain and having her daughter Persephone abducted by Hades. As Demeter searched for her daughter on earth, she gave up her role as a fertility goddess, and the earth suffered. In many versions of that myth, it’s the goddess Hekate who convinces Demeter to return life to the world, but in other versions it’s Pan. As a god of liminal spaces, existing between humanity and the gods, the goat-footed one is well suited to the role, again suggesting a strong link between Pan and the natural world.
Perhaps the most familiar myths featuring Pan are those that involve the god in pursuit of a nymph. Pan does not come across well in these tales, and to call him a rapist in them would not be an exaggeration. Pan’s pursuit of the nymphs Echo, Pitys, and Syrinx pit Pan against virginity, a state of being that angers the god.49 In the stories of Pitys and Syrinx, the gods of Olympus turn Pitys into a pine tree to save her from the ravages of Pan, while the nymph sisters of Syrinx transform her into reeds to save her from Pan’s pursuit, which the god then fashions into his famous pan flute, the syrinx. The most awful end comes to Echo, who upon rejecting the god was torn to pieces by a group of shepherds driven to madness by the goat-foot god. Though her body was destroyed, Echo continued to live on as a disembodied voice.
These stories can be interpreted a number of ways. Some see them as cautionary tales, highlighting how important it is for young women to remain virgins.50 Others see them as examples of what can arise from a sexuality divorced from marriage. Pursuit of a lover can have beneficial consequences, such as pine trees and pan flutes. (The benefits of these transformations don’t seem to help Pitys or Syrinx all that much, though.)
Pan and Panic
One of the most diff
icult of Pan’s attributes is his connection to the idea of panic. (The word panic actually derives from his name.) Pan could have a terrible temper, such as when being unexpectedly awoken from a midafternoon nap, and his wrath could be both violent and terrifying. Although sometimes connected to violence, Pan was not a god of war, and never appears on the battlefield in Greek art.51
In 490 BCE, the Greek runner Philippides (sometimes also spelled Pheidippides) was sent from Athens to Sparta to request the military aid of the Spartans against the Persians. On his way back to Athens, Philippides was met by Pan, and the god promised to aid the Athenians if they would begin worshipping him. The Athenians won their subsequent battle against the Persians, the Battle of Marathon, but just what sort of help Pan gave the Greeks is an open question. It’s generally assumed that his assistance occurred not during battle but before or after, and that he threw the invading Persians into a panic-terror.
Panic was known to overtake ancient armies and cause them to turn on themselves. A soldier would hear the sound of what they thought to be an invading army in the night and call their comrades to arms. The fear and confusion from such shouts would lead to men on the same side killing one another. Pan is said to have perfected this technique using echo.52 After the war, the Athenians kept their word and built Pan a sanctuary at the mouth of a cave near the bottom of the Acropolis, where it still stands today. (When my wife and I visited Athens, the first ancient site we got to see up close was Pan’s sanctuary at the bottom of the Acropolis. I saw it as a sign.)
There’s another reason Pan helped the Athenians at Marathon: he simply did not like armies in his space. A large army moving through the countryside brings both civilization and order to what just moments before were wild spaces. Armies were the type of intrusion into his domain that Pan could not stand. In other, later battles, Pan was also given credit for inflicting panic upon armies.
Panic is more than a fear capable of gripping an army; I believe it’s a way to commune with Pan himself. Panic is not a normal state of being; it’s a liminal space where our imagination runs wild with speculation while our rational brain tries to process exactly what is happening to us. Panic can be fun, such as getting scared at a haunted house, or it can be an absolutely crippling and terrifying circumstance. A panicked state, with its rush of adrenaline, can put us in an alternate state of consciousness—the kind sometimes used to confer with gods and spirits.
Pan and Sexuality
With the exception of his horns, Pan’s most well-known physical attribute was his erect penis. The earliest images of Pan show a god who is more animal than man, resembling a goat on its hind legs. Over time, he would become more humanlike, but always retaining his horns and (usually) his erect phallus.
The phallus of Pan symbolized many things. Pan was a god of lust and sex for fun instead of procreation, but he was also the fertilizer of flocks and was held responsible when hunting was especially good (or bad).53 Pan’s sexuality was about taking advantage of what was available, whether that was a lover, a hand, or a sheep.54 Sex between males was especially important to Pan,and engaging in it was a way to honor the god.55
Pan’s sexuality was straight, gay, bi, and other things that I don’t have words for. This might have been the case partly because he wasn’t completely a male god. Beginning at the end of the fifth century BCE, Pan began to sometimes be depicted as female.56 This version of Pan featured the deity with an alluring feminine shape, along with horns and a tail. Pan was also sometimes depicted as a child, or as “many Pans,” with each version of the god representing one of his many aspects.57 In ancient Greek art, I’ve seen Pan depicted with the face of a philosopher-poet, as a mischievous child, and as an extremely lecherous man. Perhaps much of Pan’s appeal both today and in the past comes from just how many different personas he has.
The Death of Pan
While Greek mythology is littered with stories chronicling the deaths of various demigods, Pan is the only Greek god who was believed to have “died” during pagan antiquity. In Plutarch’s (c. 46–c. 120 CE) Moralia, he shares a strange story set during the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius (42 BCE–37 CE), who ruled from 14–37 CE. Much of Plutarch’s information came to him secondhand, but the source of this story was someone well known to him, the son of his grammar teacher. According to that source, during a voyage from Western Greece to Italy, a strange voice called out from the island of Paxi to the boat’s captain, an Egyptian by the name of Thamus. Everyone aboard the ship was amazed by this, as most of the travelers even on the boat were unaware of the captain’s name.
Not recognizing the voice, Thamus ignored it initially, but after the third call, Thamus responded and the voice said, “When you come opposite to Palodes, announce that Great Pan is dead.” 58 All aboard the ship debated whether to share the news when they reached Palodes, and Thamus decided he would only share the information he was given if the seas were calm and the breeze quiet. As they neared Palodes, everything did grow still, so Thamus shared his message. Plutarch says the message was greeted with sadness and amazement, and as the passengers debarked in Italy from Thamus’s boat, they shared their story with anyone who would listen.
One of those who ended up listening was Emperor Tiberius, who consulted his scholars about the strange message and dispatched people to investigate. Whatever became of Tiberius’s investigation is unknown, but the fact that the emperor took such a message seriously suggests that there might be more to the story than what comes from Plutarch. For something that happened two thousand years ago, we have a surprising amount of detail, including several names and a couple of locations. Whatever happened on that riverboat was something that stayed with people.59
Over the centuries, several explanations have been offered for Plutarch’s tale. One suggests that Thamus and his passengers simply misheard the voice calling to them from the island of Paxi. According to this theory, it was not Pan who died, but perhaps the deity Tammuz (also known as Dumuzid), who in Mesopotamian mythology was murdered by demons. The Greek Adonis, who was gored to death by either Artemis or Ares in the form of a bull, has also been suggested as the dead god. This theory does not explain how the voice from the shore knew the name of Thamus, or why the sea and the winds were calm when the boat reached Palodes, but it does seem more likely than a random voice suggesting that the Greek Pan was dead.
The most commonly shared explanation of Pan’s death comes from Christians who argue that Pan must have died when Jesus was either crucified or resurrected from the dead. Why Jesus and his dad would have had to wait until such a moment to off Pan has never been explained, most likely because it’s completely nonsensical. Whatever happened on that riverboat will always remain a mystery, though I should point out that worship of Pan continued over the next few centuries, at least until Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire around 381 CE.
It’s impossible to keep a good god down, though, and Pan would rise again. In fact, Pan would become even more popular in his second go-round. However, that tale won’t be told in this book until Chapter Eleven.
A Pan Ritual in Ancient Greece
We don’t really know very much about how Pan was worshipped in the ancient world. There are no surviving documents outlining a ritual for the god, and not much in the way of contemporary accounts either. However, we can piece together a reasonable approximation of a Pan ritual utilizing archaeological artifacts (including the caves where the god was worshipped), letters, plays, and what we know about Greek religion in general. The most useful account of a Pan ritual comes from the play Dyskolos (The Grouch), written by the playwright Menander (c. 342/41–c. 290 BCE). Using this play as a starting point, it’s possible to reconstruct what a Pan ritual might have looked like in the year 300 BCE.
Unlike other gods, Pan had no major feast days on the calendars of most Greeks. In Athens, the god was honored yearly with a torchlight race, an honor he shared with the god
Prometheus.60 The race most likely commemorated Pan’s introduction to the Athenian runner Philippides, who met Pan while running back to Athens from Sparta, but we don’t know much else about it. Worship of Pan, as it generally occurred outside of city centers, happened when someone felt the need for it, either due to some deep longing or perhaps at the urging of the god himself.
Rituals for Pan most likely began before noon, when a procession of people would start to make their way to one of Pan’s grottoes, usually a journey of at least a couple of miles. Flute music often accompanied the journey, and perhaps the sound of tambourines. Startling the god was considered foolhardy, so his worship spaces were always approached with music.
Upon arriving at Pan’s grotto, always shared with nymphs, a sacrifice was made and/or given to the god (Figure 4). If the problem being presented to the god was especially vexing, a large sacrifice would be made, such as a goat or lamb with its genitalia intact. The sacrifice was always presented with noise, in marked contrast to the sacrifices performed to other gods, which were generally done in silence.61 Once the sacrifice was performed, the best cuts of meat were boiled and eaten by the ritual’s participants, and the leftovers were given as a burnt offering to Pan and the nymphs of the grotto.
Figure 4: A sacrifice for Pan.
While far from accurate, this image does capture the
joy felt by those who celebrated the rites of Pan.
Most often, though, offerings to Pan did not involve animal sacrifice. He was far more likely to receive gifts such as grain, bread, figs, wine, grapes, olives, and milk.62 These offerings would have been shared with those in attendance before being burned as an offering. While milk and foodstuffs were actively shared by Pan and the nymphs, the wine was thought to be all for the god.