Pan Greek An ancient deity from the mountainous region of Arcadia, in Greece.
Publié le 26/01/2014
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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.)
Liens utiles
- Ixion Greek King of the Lapiths in Thessaly, the largest ancient region of north-central Greece.
- Midas Greek A mythical king of Phrygia, an ancient region of central Asia Minor; son of the goddess Cybele and Gordius, from whom he inherited the throne.
- Pythian Games Greek A sacred rite enacted in ancient Greece to honor the ancient serpentmonster, Python, slain by the god Apollo.
- Mycenae Greek An ancient city of Greece situated in Argos, in the northern Peloponnesus.
- Parnassus Greek A mountain in south-central Greece, a few miles north of the Gulf of Corinth which separates mainland Greece from the Peloponnesus.