Pan

**Pan** is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds, hunting, sexuality, and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs.

## Overview

He was depicted as being half human, while having the legs and horns of a goat, just like a faun; his Roman counterpart was Faunus. It is generally accepted that his father was Hermes.

There were no temples attributed to Pan, but he was rather worshiped in natural settings such as caves. It was believed that he often chased nymphs in order to seduce them, but he was always turned down due to his ugly appearance. Moreover, the word 'panic' derives from the name of the goat-like deity. Pan's angry voice was so frightening, that caused panic to anyone who was unlucky to be close enough to hear it.

## History

### Competition with Apollo

Pan once had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo, and to challenge Apollo, the god of the lyre, to a trial of skill. Tmolus, the mountain-god, was chosen to umpire. Pan blew on his pipes and gave great satisfaction with his rustic melody to himself and to his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and all but Midas agreed with the judgment. Midas dissented and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer and turned Midas' ears into those of a donkey.

### Musical Memento

One of the famous myths of Pan involves the origin of his pan flute, fashioned from lengths of hollow reed. Syrinx was a lovely wood-nymph of Arcadia, daughter of Ladon, the river-god. As she was returning from the hunt one day, Pan met her. To escape from his importunities, the fair nymph ran away and didn't stop to hear his compliments.

He pursued from Mount Lycaeum until she came to her sisters who immediately changed her into a reed. When the air blew through the reeds, it produced a plaintive melody. The god, still infatuated, took some of the reeds, because he could not identify which reed she became, and cut seven pieces (or according to some versions, nine), joined them side by side in gradually decreasing lengths, and formed the musical instrument bearing the name of his beloved Syrinx. Henceforth Pan was seldom seen without it.

### Lasting Voice

Echo was a nymph who was a great singer and dancer and scorned the love of any man. This angered Pan, a lecherous god, and he instructed his followers to kill her. Echo was torn to pieces and spread all over Earth. The goddess of the Earth, Gaea, received the pieces of Echo, whose voice remains repeating the last words of others. In some versions, Echo and Pan had two children: Iambe and Iynx.

In other versions, Pan had fallen in love with Echo, but she scorned the love of any man but was enraptured by Narcissus. As Echo was cursed by Hera to only be able to repeat words that had been said by someone else, she could not speak for herself. She followed Narcissus to a pool, where he fell in love with his own reflection and changed into a narcissus flower. Echo wasted away, but her voice could still be heard in caves and other such similar places.

Pan also loved a nymph named Pitys, who was turned into a pine tree to escape him.

## Powers and Abilities

**Animal Deity:** Pan is an animal deity, a god or goddess that is personified as animals or represent the animal kingdom or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Animal deities and animal worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms.

**Fertility Deity:** As an archetype of a Fertility Deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with fertility, virility, sex, sexual health, reproduction, procreation, pregnancy, birth, nature, vegetation and crops. Fertility deities are common in mythology and were important among ancient and current civilizations. In most cases these deities are directly associated with these experiences.

**Music Deity:** Pan with this ability either is or can transform into a Music Deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with the music and songs. Music Deities can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms.

**Nature Deity:** As an archetype, a nature deity is a god/goddess who represents or is associated with or in charge of forces of nature such as a water deity, vegetation deity, sky deity, solar deity, fire deity or any other naturally occurring phenomena such as mountains, trees, or volcanoes. They are the supreme guardians of nature, they search along the outside world and spread and protect nature they described to be personifications of nature. They have the power to grow, nurture and rejuvenate plant life and even create flowers out of nothing.

**Pastoral Deity:** Pan with this ability either is or can transform into a Pastoral Deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with a pastoral lifestyle. A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It also lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music that depicts such life in an idealized manner, typically for rural areas. Pastoral Deities are common in mythology and were important among ancient and current civilizations. In most cases these deities are directly associated with these experiences.

**Sex Deity:** Pan either is or can transform into a sex deity, a god/goddess who represents and is associated with sex, sexuality, and pleasure, as well minor powers of love, lust, desire, fertility and beauty. Sex Deities can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms.

**Vegetation Deity:** Pan is a vegetation deity, a god or goddess of the plant kingdom or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. A vegetation deity is a nature deity whose disappearance and reappearance, or life, death and rebirth, embodies the growth cycle of plants. In nature worship, the deity can be a god or goddess with the ability to regenerate itself. A vegetation deity is often a fertility deity. The deity typically undergoes dismemberment, scattering, and reintegration, as narrated in a myth or reenacted by a religious ritual. The cyclical pattern is given theological significance on themes such as immortality, resurrection, and reincarnation.

**Replication:** Pan can instantly and perfectly replicate themselves and/or other entities and even objects, often numerous times without losing energy or getting tired. Whilst created in a variety of ways, these clones primarily tend to either formed separately from Pan through various means, such as through the use of external elements or other sources, or directly from Pan, such as through Pan's form splitting into several individual beings that are usually able to recombine afterwards. Most users have both of these abilities (if subconsciously), copying their clothes or other equipment along with their body and will normally be able to maintain control over all copies.