Pan

The personification of deity displayed in creation and pervading all things. As flocks and herds were the chief property of the pastoral age, Pan was called the god of flocks and herds. He is also called the god of hyle, not the “woods” only, but “all material substances.” The lower part was that of a goat, because of the asperity of the earth; the upper part was that of a man, because ether is the “hegemonic of the world;” the lustful nature of the god symbolised the spermatic principle of the world; the libbard's skin was to indicate the immense variety of created things; and the character of “blameless Pan” symbolised that wisdom which governs the world. (Greek, pan, everything.) (Phornutus: De Natura Deorum, xxvii. 203.)

Universal Pan,
Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
Led on the eternal spring.

Milton: Paradise Lost, iv. 265.

In the National Museum of Naples is the celebrated marble of “Pan teaching Apollo to play on the panpipe.”

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language