by iakul

Created on: August 02, 2010

Pan was the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, the wilds and the hunt, and of rustic music. He had horns and the bottom half of a goat, although his top half was that of a man. The myths conflict on his parentage and he has been depicted as either the son of Hermes or Dionysus, and although not as frequently as the former two, sometimes also as the son of Zeus. In one version, he is the son of Penelope, wife of Odysseus, who gave birth to him after being unfaithful to Odysseus. Yet other accounts place him as older than the Olympian gods.

Pan had the ability to inspire sudden fear in crowded places, and it was from this ability of his that the word "panic" came about, to describe this state of emotion.

Pan did so through the use of his music, which besides being able to cause panic, could also cause inspiration or arouse sexuality, depending on his intentions, and he was proud of his musical prowess. Thus, it was inevitable that he would challenge Apollo, who was the god of music, among other things, to a musical duel.

There are two different accounts of how this turned out. One account held that Apollo was judged the winner, and that only King Midas (the same Midas who had the golden touch) disagreed with it. Apollo took offense that such a depraved pair of ears should exist that actually felt that Pan's music was better, and changed Midas's ears to a pair of donkey ears.

In another version, Pan and Apollo drew their first round, and so it was decided that they would compete in a second round. Apollo demanded that they play their instruments upside down in the second round. Apollo's musical instrument was the lyre, and he was barely affected by this. However, Pan's pipes could not be played in such a fashion, and thus Apollo was deemed the winner of the competition.

According to the Greek historian Plutarch, Pan is the only Greek god to have died. It was related that when a sailor by the name of Thamus was sailing to Italy, a divine voice hailed him when he passed by the island of Paxim saying, "Thamus, are you there? When you reach Palodes, take care to proclaim that the great god Pan is dead." Thamus did so, and the news was greeted with groans and laments.

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