Pan

A mural in the Villa of the Mysteries just outside the walls to the northwest of old Pompeii, Italy. The villa was evidently a religious establishment devoted to the worship of the god Pan, for in the mural a priest plays the syrinx (panpipes) in the presence of Pan's animals, the goats, while a priestess enacts terror, thus explaining the derivation of the English word ‘panic’.

In Greek mythology, the god of flocks and herds. He is depicted as a man with the horns, ears, and hoofed legs of a goat, and plays a shepherd's syrinx or panpipes; an instrument he reputedly invented. Later he was regarded as the personification of nature, the existing order of things. The Romans identified him with Faunus and Silvanus.

Pan was believed to be the son of Hermes, messenger of the gods. He wandered the mountains and valleys of Arcadia, either with the hunt or leading a dance of nymphs to the accompaniment of his pipes. Travellers dreaded his sudden appearance, giving rise to the term ‘panic’.

His cult reached Athens in 490 BC, following a report that he had appeared to Pheidippides and promised help in the forthcoming battle of Marathon.