Pan Greek An ancient deity from the mountainous region of Arcadia, in Greece.

Pan Greek An ancient deity from the mountainous region of Arcadia, in Greece. Pan was a deity of herds and flocks, fertility, forests, and wildlife. He is usually depicted as half man, half goat. The Romans called him Faunus. Pan was a notable musician, playing the syrinx (panpipes, or Pipes of Pan), a seven-reed flute still played by Arcadian shepherds. In one myth, Pan challenged the god Apollo to a musical contest (see Midas and the Donkey's Ears, under Midas). Some sources say Pan is the son of the god Hermes and of the Nymph Penelope. People worshiped Pan as a fertility symbol and thought of him as lusty and playful, though at times a little sinister. They believed Pan was the cause of a sudden, terrifying, unreasoning fear in humans and beasts, a feeling given the name panic, from Pan. Almost every region in Greece had its own Pan, a primitive, ancient deity. (See Aristaeus and Priapus.)