Home › Glossary › Letter P

Pan

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The Greek god of wild nature, shepherds, flocks, and rustic music, often depicted with goat legs and panpipes.

Detailed Definition
Pan, with goat legs and horns, embodies untamed nature and primal fear (panic). He pursued Syrinx, who became reeds, forming his panpipes. In poetry, especially pastoral, he represents the idyllic countryside, creative inspiration, and the terror of the irrational.
Example
Example in poetry:
Pan, god of shepherds, appears in Theocritus’s Idylls playing his syrinx; In Virgil’s Eclogues, Pan protects flocks and inspires rustic song; Ovid recounts Pan’s pursuit of Syrinx in Metamorphoses; Horace’s Odes invoke Pan as a woodland deity; Romantic poets use Pan to symbolize untamed nature; Modern verse employs Pan to explore primal creativity.
Additional Notes
Pan, god of shepherds, flocks, and wild nature, is depicted with goat legs and panpipes; his sudden appearances cause “panic”—his music competes with Apollo’s (in the Marsyas myth)—ideal for pastoral, rustic, or chaotic poetry; symbolizes untamed instinct versus civilized order.
Also Known As
God of Wilds Piper of Arcadia Faunus Steel drum Steelpan
Skip to main content