#god pan

[weirdlookindog]

Rolf von Hoerschelmann (1885–1947) - Der Flötenbläser (The Flute Player)

from Simplicissimus #35, 1944

source

[lionofchaeronea]

Gold stater (diameter=18 mm; weight=9.09 g) from the ancient Greek city of Panticapaeum, a Milesian colony on the Black Sea. The obverse bears the head of the god Pan, shown in three-quarter view and crowned with ivy. The reverse depicts a griffin with a spear in its mouth, standing on an ear of grain (the Black Sea region was an important center of grain production for the ancient Mediterranean world). Around the griffin are the Greek letters ΠΑΝ. Now in the Münzkabinett der Staatlichen Museen, Altes Museum, Berlin. Photo credits: ArchaiOptix/Wikimedia Commons.

[reno-matagot]

Todd Yeager • Sandpiper Pan

[nymphenae]

Pan stood betwixt the tree, the ocean, and me.

[boymanmaletheshequel]

Just created my Druid nemotom! (An altar to nature and it’s gods) in my backyard. Blessed be lady Brighid of fire and magic, sir Pan of nature and music, king Poseidon of the maritime, lady Artemis of the forage and the hunt, and so many more! Be the green witch the earth calls you out to be 💚

[djlechat]

[moonandserpent]

Satyr goblet pendant by Moon and Serpent

[thevoidofthevoid]

Next time you meet a pansexual person. Instead saying “So are you like attracted to pans?”

Say “So like are you attracted to the god Pan?”

Unlike pans, the god Pan would be quite the great lover

[rustycreature-blog]

I've been wanting to draw the god Pan for a while, and now I have!

[alpaca-clouds]

Some more mythology geekery

Or: Let me talk Pan. (Or the other god I know a lot about.)

Folks found the stuff about old mythology and Persephone interesting... so let me do Pan. So, as I said: Persephone is a very old goddess who might well be one of the first in the Greek pantheon. But... She is not as old as Pan. Because within Europe Pan might in fact be the oldest god that we know about. In fact he very probably predates the ancient Greek religion and was just so popular, that the Greeks just decided to keep him in the pantheon.

How do we know that?

This is the moment, where this geeky twink squeals with excitement, because he gets to talk about proto-indo-european stuff. So, allow me for a moment: SQUEEEEEEEEE! 🥳

Okay. That needed out.

So, what you need to understand is that most mythologies from Europe, Asia and Northern Africa you know about are actually decendents of the same mythology. Talked about this in regards of the Roman Gods not being the Greek Gods. But... yeah. So, there was once this culture, who we call the Proto-Indo-Europeans and they had the great idea of putting wheels on things and the things behind horses and then got around a lot. And wherever they went, they brought their language and mythology with them, which is why the Indo-European language family is so fucking giant.

We can see some of their stuff shimmer through in common themes in mythology. Like, almost all the mythologies in Europe and Asia have a "sky daddy", aka a godly father figure who is associated with the sky. He is not always the big guy of the pantheon, but he is important in all the cases.

And while when we talk Greek, Egyptian, Roman or even Chinese and Hindu mythology we have a surprising amount of writing going on that dates back at times more than 3000 years... the earlier we go, the less writing there is.

Now, with Pan we have some stuff in Mycenean art and what not, that hints that he was around at least as early as 1700 BC, though - obviously - we do not really have written sources going back to this time.

But there is also the fact that... One of the earliest mythologies to split from the Proto-Indo-European one is the Hindu mythology. An the Hindu mythology has Pushan, who is not only associated with the same stuff (pasture, roads, travel, the wild and so on), but also has some goat imagery in older versions. Just like Pan. And if you look at the names P(ush)an you can see there is a parallel. Which makes those geeks who study stuff like that for a living fairly certain that those two once were the same god. A god they call *Péh₂usōn. And no, I will not go into Proto-Indo-European language right now.

The word "pasture" in English comes from the same Proto-Indo-European word, by the way.

Current theory goes, that Pan was actually worshiped by the pastoral people living in Greece before the advanced Greek civilization spread. And given that Pan was associated with so many aspects the folks were not giving him up. So, as it goes with pantheons... He just got integrated into the pantheon as was........ though he got split into two pieces. But... Gotta talk about his other piece tomorrow.

Maybe due to the age of Pan, but maybe due to him turning into mostly a god of wilderness, he tends to be a much more openly manecing deity compared to other gods. While most polytheistic cultures absolutely feature an aspect of: "Our thing is that we bribe gods into being nice with us, because those gods are so freaking dangerous," most of the pantheon gods are actually mostly cultured. Even if they are horndogs like Zeus.

Pan meanwhile is a god of the wild. He has this animal imagery (that probably all early gods had) still very present, he gets associated with all sort of wild behavior in humans, and of course the word "panic" comes from Pan. Because it is said that his scream could create panic in the humans.

Enough geekery, lets get back to Stray Gods. Because other than with Persephone's situation I am fairly certain that at least some of this was known to the creators, given the role Pan plays as someone who is not quite inside of the Chorus and acts more as an outsider to it.

[weirdlookindog]

"The poplars are the mystic wall of whispering Titans"

Stella Langdale - Illustration from 'Symphonie symbolique', 1919

British Library

[lionofchaeronea]

Homeric Hymn 19, "To Pan"

From the poll I did, it looks like most people are in favor of my posting this. I hope you enjoy it.

Tell me, Muse, of the dear offspring of Hermes: goat-footed, Two-horned, lover of noise, who goes in company With the dance-rejoicing nymphs through the tree-covered meadows, And they tread the heights, down from the steep rock, Calling on Pan, the shepherd god, of shining locks, Shaggy, who has as his lot every snowy crest, And the mountains’ peaks, and the stony heights.

Here and there he goes through the dense thickets, Drawn at one moment by the gentle streams-- Another time in turn he wanders the dizzying rocks, Ascending the highest peak, a place to watch the flocks. Many a time he runs through the tall and gleaming mountains, Many a time he drives beasts through the foothills, slaying them, Looking fiercely. But only at evening he makes a noise, Coming back from the hunt, playing a lovely tune With his reeds; that bird could not outstrip him in melodies That, among the leaves of much-flowering spring, performs Her song with honeyed voice, running through her lament. Then with him the mountain nymphs with high-pitched voices, Going about, dance with close-packed steps beside The spring that gives dark waters: Echo groans around The mountaintop. The god, dancing here and there, At times slipping into the middle, rules himself With his feet in close time: on his back he has a tawny Lynx’s pelt; he delights at heart in the piercing songs, There in the soft meadow, where the crocus and sweet-smelling Hyacinth bloom and mingle freely with the grass. They hymn the blessed gods and high Olympus: but Above all they tell of Hermes, the sprinter, who excels The rest: how he’s swift messenger to all the gods, And how he came to Arcadia, rich in fountains, mother Of flocks, where a precinct lies of him as Cyllenian. There, god though he was, he took to herding flocks With their rough fleeces at the house of a mortal man: For watery desire came upon him and bloomed To mingle in love with Dryops’ fair-haired nubile daughter. He brought the fertile marriage to pass, and in the halls She bore a dear son to Hermes, a monstrous thing to see Right off, goat-footed, two-horned, noise-lover, Sweetly laughing: his mother leapt up and fled, His nurse abandoned the child right then, for she feared, When she saw his face—unappealing, well-bearded. Forthwith sprinter Hermes took him up in his hands-- The divine being rejoiced exceedingly in his mind. He went right away to the immortals’ seats, concealing The child in close-wrapped skins of a mountain-dwelling hare: He sat beside Zeus and the other immortals and showed them His son: all the immortals were delighted in their spirits, First and foremost Dionysos, known as Bacchus. They called him Pan, because he pleased the hearts of all. And you, thus, rejoice! With a song I seek your favor-- But I shall think of you and another song as well.

Sweet, piercing sweet was the music of Pan's pipe, Walter Crane, 1910s

[hallelu-adonai]

Glory to Pan!

[nymphenae]

Closeup of the art, bc tunglr did not do him jUSTICE.

[paganpillar]

Stained glass depicting Pan. Saw this at South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

[djlechat]