Talk:Pan (god)

Reference to Pashupati
Pashupati does not appear to have horns and there is no resemblance to Pan whatsoever (see this image for example: http://redlotus.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Shiva-Pashupati.jpeg). Unless I'm missing something, I propose that the reference to Pashupati is removed from this section. --94.209.127.141 (talk) 10:09, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Stupidity in it's best
Can/should this article mention Caesarea Phillipi, where I have heard there was a temple dedicated to Pan's worship which was visited by Christ at the time when he said "I will buld my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her"  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.8.190.54 (talk) 15:35, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Removed folk etymology of "panophobia". The proper word is "Pantophobia", the fear of everything, and has nothing to do with the Greek god.JHCC 18:53, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

can anyone confirm the statement about panophobic/pantophobic? I ma doing a college research paper about Pan/Horned God and would like to know how i can confirm the etymology? Woudl appreciate any help, especially from the person who did the original post


 * You may find the connections to "pantophobia" are as tenuous as the connection between Pan and Horned God. Sounds like a Christian university. --Wetman 10:31, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)


 * Removed this new edit here: "Another theory about Pan's name is that it may be related to Panku, an ancient Chinese god, also horned, from whose body the Earth was created." Sure, and say! why not add "Some think there is a connection with "hanky-PANky" because the god was always fooling around with nymphs. Many see a possible reincarnation of Pan in SpongeBob SquarePANts.""

20050807 Just looking for Wiki input, should this photo be added? When posted on my defunct web page, I got two comments, both: "That's the best satyr COSTUME in the world!"

Proposed merge of "Panes"
All I know about the subject is what's at the current stub article, but what's there doesn't look like it warrants a merge - the only connection between Panes and Pan is that they look very similar. Are there any other connections between the two? Bryan 17:05, 21 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Panes was a redirect.I redirected it here, with the added notation "Pan could be multiplied as the Panes --Wetman 22:30, 21 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Whoops. It was a redirect because this morning I moved Panes to Pane (mythology), and neglected to update the merge notice. I'm reverting your edit since it doesn't make sense to me to pluralize the name of a singular god, and the issue of the Panes as a "species" still remains. Bryan 00:59, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

The cult of Pan was a serious Religious phenomenon
It may be fashionable to be dismissive about the God Pan - but there is plenty of evidence to support the idea that He was far more than a naughty God of Shepherds. Macrobius, for example in his "Saturnalia" describes Pan as an important "solar" diety who comprises the light of the sun, everything that the sun shines on, and the sun itself. Then there is this prayer from Plato's "Phaedrus": "O beloved Pan, and all ye other Gods, who are residents of this place, grant that I may become beautiful within, and that whatever I possess externally may be friendly to my inward attainments!  Grant, also, that I may consider the wise man as one who abounds in wealth; and that I may enjoy that portion of gold, which no other than a prudent man is able either to bear, or properly manage!" A thorough treatment of the cult of Pan as a serious Religious phenomenon can be found in Philippe Borgeaud's "The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece". User:Durruti36 Tue Jul 11 10:53:35 EDT 2006


 * Pan was indeed very important, but waning by the time of classical Greek culture. Although I take issue with him being considered 'solar' - he is clearly an earth spirit. --Kelt65 (talk) 16:13, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Source still needed
The following assertion is unusual enough to require a source in a classical text: " He is also credited with teaching masturbation to mankind. Having learned it from his father, Hermes, who was its inventor, he then proceded to teach it to his beloved shepherds, to relieve their erotic longings." --Wetman 20:33, 14 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Check this out: http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1000251,00.html . Unfortunately they cite no primary sources - not that we need one here but it would be nice to know. Haiduc 20:41, 14 September 2006 (UTC)


 * What? The source then is Thierry Paquot, The Art of the Siesta? —where one may also be informed that "There are deep yellow siestas, when it is hot and you are enveloped in sweat. There are red siestas: violent and incendiary. There are white siestas: virginal, pure and light." Paquot's light-hearted personal essay could not possibly provide a text, for none such exists. Let's leave this text here at Talk, then, where every passerby may read it... in hopes that one day we may return it to the article with some responsible link to the classical world. --Wetman 02:52, 15 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Not so quick! See Planned Parenthood, "the god Hermes taught his son Pan how to masturbate to relieve himself of the misery he felt when he was spurned by the nymph, Echo. Pan learned the lesson well, overcame his grief, and taught the trick to human shepherds," and Krippner who claims that "Romans gave Hermes the name of Mercury, and both traditions considered him to have invented masturbation," and Paquot is not to be easily dismissed. I am also puzzled about the source but too many serious players are making reference to this. To my mind we have enough to go on.
 * PS Late discovery - look at this: "but I must caution that Pan is also believed to have invented masturbation: Dio Chrys. Or. 6.20." So, Dio Chrysostom's Discourses. Haiduc 03:44, 15 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, now you've got something... and not Planned Parenthood, much as one admires them. Dio Chrysostom, Discourses, vi.20. Just report that Dio Chrysostom said it, and give the reference, and you're good to go! I was wrong in my doubts, but look! a much better reference! --Wetman 04:42, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Actually I would like to dig a bit deeper - I am not happy with the inconsistency of the sources,  with Barchiesi claiming Pan invented it, instead of Hermes. If you do not have access to the Dio Chrysostom, I'll have to look for it. Haiduc 11:15, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Categorization
Should this article be moved from Category:Sexuality in the classical world to its new subcat Category:Ancient Greek eros? —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 00:07, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

The last sentence in the following paragraph is unclear:

Once Pan 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 with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction to himself and 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. He dissented, and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and caused them to become the ears of a donkey.

Should be changed to make it clear who's ears are being referred to.


 * Sounds pretty clear to me that Midas' ears are the ears in question, but I could just have a different way of processing paragraphs than most people. Anyone have a third opinion? Aeonoris (talk) 08:59, 3 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I can't see how it could possibly be interpreted as anyone other than Midas' ears. I don't see the paragraph as unclear, in fact. Fuzzypeg★ 23:22, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism
Why is there continued vandalism on this entry? Symkyn 06:59, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

An unhelpful "See also" poster
"Boujeloud is a CD by the Moroccan Sufi trance musicians Master Musicians of Joujouka." The Wikipedia article Boujeloud is essentially a flyer for this CD. A purported connection to Pan (mythology), insisted upon by User:Opiumjones 23? too slender to be a "See also" link here: it's simply a poster advertising the CD. Wikipedia is a reader service: a link to a CD from the article on this mythological figure doesn't aid any reader. --Wetman (talk) 11:09, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Satan
"It is likely that the demonized images of the incubus and even the horns and cloven hooves of Satan, as depicted in much medieval and post-medieval Christian literature and art, were taken from the images of Pan."

It may seem intuitive that this be the case, but Pan was hardly the only mythological figure with horns and/or hooved feet. This really needs a source.141.154.48.254 (talk) 03:55, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Rustic Music?
The introduction mentions that Pan is also the god of "rustic music". What is rustic music? I find no reference to it on the web. --Coching (talk) 05:01, 7 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Rural music, pastoral music, peasant music etc. There's also a song called "Rustic Raver" by Squarepusher. ;) —85.178.95.4 (talk) 17:43, 6 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Link now added. —85.178.95.4 (talk) 17:46, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

The term might be linked to Ovid (XI: 161-163), who uses terms which may be translated as "rustic" in regard to Pan's flute (calamis agrestibus) and music (barbaricoque [...] carmine) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.9.69.254 (talk) 18:27, 20 October 2021 (UTC)

Ovid did not substitute Pan for Marsyas
Hi folks, I just wanted to note that, contrary to what is said in the Music section, it is false that Ovid substituted Pan for Marsyas in depicting a musical duel between Apollon and someone else.

Granted, the duel between Marsyas and Apollon is not actually narrated by Ovid, but it is mentioned explicitly, and the punishment by flailing is duly described (VI: 382-400).

The duel between Apollon and Pan is indeed the one to which Ovid dedicates a longer description (XI: 146-194), but there is no punishment directly ascribed to Pan; in my view it wouldn't even make sense, since apparently Pan is superior to [or at least older than] Apollon and might even have trained the latter. Moreover, Pan is allegedly also immortal, and so the flailing wouldn't have lead to his death (as was the case with Marsyas).

The one punished in the Pan-Apollon duel is actually Midas, who gets donkey ears for refusing to recognize the (putative) superiority of the music of Artemis' brother.

Restored original text
''A common superstition in the Middle Ages was that goats whispered lewd sentences in the ears of the saints. The origin of this belief was probably the behavior of the buck in rut, the very epitome of lust. The common medieval depiction of the Devil was that of a goat-like face with horns and small beard (a goatee). The Black Mass, a probably-mythological "Satanic mass," was said to involve a black goat, the form in which Satan supposedly manifested himself for worship.''

Moved this replacement for the better sourced text here, restoring the former text. Nothing re: "goat whisper Saint" could be detected at JSTOR. Anything in the above to return to the article?--Wetman (talk) 21:26, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

"all the pans"?
In the section named 'All the Pans', there's material that was inserted long ago by RammsteinViking in this diff. Is there a source for this? Dionysus battled the Indians? I'm not a greek scholar by any means, but I wasn't aware there was significant contact between Greece and India. Thanks for any insight you can provide. Syrthiss (talk) 13:37, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Didn't know this myself, but it's true. Overview and sources at theoi.com: http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/PanesPaneides.html —91.64.51.196 (talk) 15:11, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Pan
I suggest addition of the following image to the article: 'Young satyr making love to a herm of the god Pan' Bas-relief on a marble sarcophagus from late 2nd century CE. Originally part of the Farnese collection, now in the Archeological Museum, Naples." http://www.gay-art-history.org/gay-history/gay-art/gay-rome-art/imgSuper/bacchanalia.jpg Israell (talk) 09:54, 16 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Go on then. Rainbow Shifter (talk) 18:38, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

"Panic"?
...means fear with hysteria. No sane connection to the god Pan. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.120.224 (talk) 16:40, 8 April 2016 (UTC)
 * The English word panic is from the Greek πανικός, meaning "of or pertaining to Pan". It was believed that Pan was the source of the sudden, unreasoning fear that sometimes gripped people or animals.  So yes, there's a direct connection.  P Aculeius (talk) 21:00, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

God of War
Pan is the God of the Wilds and of war, he's a stratiton, the wilds require a great deal of knowledge of war and planning, please stop removing this edit. 71.89.245.71 (talk) 05:25, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Please provide reliable sources for the edit. -- ‖ Ebyabe talk - Repel All Boarders  ‖ 17:10, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Although it is true that Herodotus reports a widespread rumor claiming that Pan aided the Athenians in the Battle of Marathon, Pan was not principally a war god and to call him the "god of war" is not an accurate statement. --Katolophyromai (talk) 20:07, 28 August 2017 (UTC)

God of theatrical criticism
Is Pan indeed the god of theatrical criticism?

I cannot find anything on the web about it, or in any other sources. I could not find it in the cited source here, either: Alfred Wagner, Das historische Drama der Griechen, Münster 1878, p. 78. https://archive.org/details/dashistorisched00wagngoog/page/n82

Is this the correct page number? Year 78 and page 78 suggest that something was confused.

With Pan being the God of pure natural instinct, loving rustic music, sex and easily panicked, I find it also a bit out of character for him to be a theatre critic – something much more in the realms of Dionysus and Apollo. Note that Pan is often confused with the Satyrs, who accompanied Dionysus, and who were central to Greek theatre. They had an entire Satyr play, as addition to the trilogy of tragedies, often commenting on the trilogy to lighten up the mood. Is this confusion what is happening here? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2000:1280:C50F:AC6E:6A80:AE71:D655 (talk) 18:51, 11 January 2020 (UTC)


 * I suspect you're right, but unfortunately I can't understand Greek or German at all, and my Latin is woefully deficient. Google Translate does a credible job on German, but not so much on Latin or Greek.  The copy on Archive.org appears to have half the text missing from the page cited.  This copy on Google Books is intact.  It's definitely saying something about drama, but I can't make out what it is.  I don't see where Pan is mentioned, but I could easily have missed it.  The statement was added to the article by an IP editor on June 3, 2009, and that IP has no other edits to Wikipedia.  Could someone who can make sense of the text verify whether or not it supports the statement?  Perhaps it says it, perhaps not, and maybe it's relevant to the article, but the statement about it needs to be rewritten.  P Aculeius (talk) 19:29, 11 January 2020 (UTC)


 * I cannot get you a source right now, but in Athens he was indeed invoked as a god of theatrical criticism. (Or so I've heard from someone who tends to do their research.) The history behind it is somewhat complicated, and yes it was indeed out of character. Then again,I might not be remembering that correctly, or read that on this wiki and assigned it to them instead. If I'm wrong, I'll just cross this out. 216.56.145.37 (talk) 17:20, 3 February 2020 (UTC)
 * side note, my IP seems to keep changing, so I may get an account soon to keep my talk posts straight — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.56.145.37 (talk) 17:22, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

I deleted the comment on theatrical criticism a while ago. There was no mention of Pan from the original citation. Someone has changed it back since then and has added two new sources. I was able to verify one of them but it was hardly a primary source and since this was added well over a decade ago, it could be a feedback loop. I would like to think that Cambridge Press would be above that but it can’t be assumed. I’m not changing it again but I don’t trust the information and I’m putting that out there for anyone that might want to look into it. Vitleysa (talk) 22:40, 12 January 2021 (UTC)


 * I'm calling it bogus. The citation names three sources: Minchev, which is too new to be searchable on Google Books, but the citation seems to be claiming that it's cited by Braund et al., which it doesn't appear to be.  That book says, "Pan was also considered a patron of theatrical criticism and impromptus," citing Seyffert, not Minchev (although Minchev is cited for other things on the same page).  So Minchev is irrelevant to this claim.  A check of Seyffert, however, fails to justify the statement in Braund et al.  Here's the English version of "Pan", and here's the German original.  I may have missed something, but I don't see anything remotely connected to "theatrical criticism and impromptus" in the article that's cited for the claim, in the only source that appears to make it.


 * So, if the source cited by Braund et al. doesn't support the claim, what do we have? Poor research?  Erroneous citation?  Wishful thinking?  An academic mountweasel?  I could have seen Pan connected with the theatre, but why theatrical criticism in particular?  It's a bit like having a patron god of encyclopedia salesmen or frequent flyer miles.  Sure, we could figure out which god would naturally be assumed as a patron—but in the absence of evidence that the Greeks had a patron god for something, it's just a modern inference.  And if classical encyclopedias don't bother mentioning this unexpected connection, does Pan's Wikipedia article suffer if it's omitted due to reasonable doubts about where the claim comes from?  Given how improbable it sounds, I think we need some statement in support of it from a Greek or Roman author.  P Aculeius (talk) 00:16, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Pan "had sex with" Selene
How should we describe Pan's relationship with Selene? I've suggested that we describe as an "affair" (Gantz, p. 36, and Kerenyi, p. 175, and Grimal, s.v. Selene, all call it an "affair", with Grimal saying Selene was famous for such "affairs"). But "affair" was objected to (by ) as implying an ongoing relationship. I don't think it necessarily does imply that, and there is no reason to believe that this relationship wasn't necessarily ongoing. Simply saying Pan "had sex with" her (the current wording)&mdash;although better than the previous, in my opinion too-clinical, "had sexual intercourse" with&mdash;completely fails to capture the romantic nature of the relationship. Paul August &#9742; 15:33, 28 September 2021 (UTC)


 * I agree that most of these phrasings are jarring and ridiculous. I understand the complaint about describing Selene as Pan's "greatest conquest", but so far none of the alternatives proposed are any improvement, and all of them sound awful.  We're dealing with the mythical past and affairs—so to speak—of the gods.  But we don't normally speak of the gods having "affairs" (20th century slang).  I find "tryst" only slightly less bothersome—the word is old, but I think as a euphemism for sex it's also rather modern.  "Had sex with" sounds like something teenagers say (before picking up Anglo-Saxon words), and "had sexual intercourse" is, as Paul August suggests, "clinical"—perhaps "legalistic" as well.


 * At this stage I would prefer reverting to the previous wording, or perhaps Neby's objected-to "lay with"—but maybe there's a way to reword the passage to avoid the awkwardness of trying to render the mythical past using contemporary phrases. The description of a "conquest" is dated and potentially sexist by today's standards—but at least it suggests that there might be an alternative to finding a description or euphemism—for "sex" as an active verb.  There may be no particularly good way to do that in English, but maybe there's a less direct way of achieving the same result.  P Aculeius (talk) 16:00, 28 September 2021 (UTC)


 * I've been mulling alternatives too. Part of the problem is that many translations bring their own baggage and reticence; the 1900 Greenough translation of Virgil at Tufts has "snared and beguiled" for "captam te, Luna, fefellit", though fefellit's very root gives us "false" (see Lewis & Short "deceive, trick, dupe, cheat, disappoint") – and that's Virgil's comfortable version, in which Pan's described as offering a gift of wool rather than disguising himself. The previous version's "greatest conquest" isn't supported by Virgil, Servius or Hard, and I don't know what the scoring system might be (rank? beauty? difficulty?). It's in Graves, but might be his own narrative flourish. "Affair" might encompass "one-night stand" to some readers, but won't to many others (see our own Affair), and we don't have any sources for a longer relationship, let alone - particularly if Selene thought she was having sex with a sheep - a romantic one. Pan is a god of lust, not romance.
 * One alternative that might suffice and incidentally removes some current repetition, is
 * There was a legend that Pan seduced the moon goddess Selene, in one account (by Virgil) with the gift of a sheep's white fleece, and in another (by Servius, ascribed to the Greek poet Nicander) by wrapping himself in a fleece to disguise himself as a sheep.
 * Ah, I like that, elegantly done. P Aculeius (talk) 17:24, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, I like that. Paul August &#9742; 17:55, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Oh good! I've made the change. Thanks, both. NebY (talk) 18:07, 28 September 2021 (UTC)


 * By the way I suspect that the "greatest conquest" language comes by way of a rewording of Kerenyi, p. 175, which says: Pan's greatest passion was for Selene." If one thinks of Pan as something of a "lady-killer" then describing his affairs as "conquests" has some merit, in which case Selene would certainly seem to qualify as one of his "greatest". Paul August &#9742; 18:22, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Oh dear, now I'm wondering where Kerenyi got that from or if it's what our Károly Kerényi aricle calls "Psychological expansion". I haven't read any of his work; do you recommend him? NebY (talk) 18:35, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I would describe Kerényi's two books, Gods of the Greeks and Heroes of the Greek's as useful but idosyncratic. Robin Hard, somewhat diplomatically perhaps, describes these two works as "works of strong individual character founded on an exhaustive knowledge of ancient sources". Paul August &#9742; 19:55, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Ah. Hard's description does seem admirably diplomatic. Maybe I won't seek those out. Thank you. NebY (talk) 20:19, 28 September 2021 (UTC)


 * I'm uncomfortable with the sharp distinction I made between Virgil and Nicander. Virgil's phrasing (roughly, "captured and deceived with the gift of a fleece") isn't captured well by "seduced ... with the gift", and after seeing Servius's gloss it's hard not to consider that Virgil's "gift" was a sly or ironic reference to the earlier raw pastoral myth Nicander mentions. I hope "There was a legend that Pan seduced the moon goddess Selene, deceiving her with a sheep's fleece" captures both versions without being too specific; I've slightly expanded the notes in the reference to suit. NebY (talk) 14:33, 19 October 2021 (UTC)

All of the pans
Hello all,

I noticed a distinct lack of citations in the category "all of the pans," how would I mark that?

Cahmad25 (talk) 15:03, 14 October 2021 (UTC)


 * I used Template:Unreferenced section. See the template documentation for more information about how it works, and how to use it in situations like this.  If you can find suitable sources, feel free to remove the template.  P Aculeius (talk) 16:22, 14 October 2021 (UTC)


 * On second thought, changed to Template:More citations needed section, since Nonnus is a perfectly good source for the first paragraph. Not all citations need ref tags; here it's attributed to Nonnus in the text.  The other statements in the section are probably correct, but ought to have a source.  I bet there's some useful material (and primary source citations) under Pan's entry in the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.  P Aculeius (talk) 16:31, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

"Identification with Satan" section
Some or most of this seems weak, uninformed, poorly sourced and a stretch. "Time to pay the piper" might as easily have come from the fairy tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin, wherein they refused to pay the piper for ridding the city of rats, to their woe; or, a similar permutation goes, "if you want to dance, you have to pay the band," which is not explicitly about pipers, but merely a truism. Furthermore, a glance at a dictionary tells the etymology of the word "pandemonium," a combination of "pan" and "demon," where "pan" is Greek for "all," which I take to be a mere homonymic coincidence -- nothing to do with the mythological Pan, whose name was actually a contraction of "paon" or "pasturer." Thus, "pandemonium" meant "abode of all demons," to which we converted it for use as "all hell breaking loose." To iterate, it is merely a prefix, the same as in words like pandemic or panoply or panacea ("cure-all"). Another point made was that traditional depictions of the devil show a beast-like, horned form. Nothing singular or surprising about such a depiction, given religious histories and patterns going back millennia. Lastly, Aleister Crowley is not a scholarly source: he was obsessed with the occult and seemed wont to equate everything including the kitchen sink to satanism. I am aware that some of my objections are presented more strongly than others.MacheathWasABadBadMan (talk) 03:45, 16 November 2021 (UTC)


 * I agree that some of this short section appears to be irrelevant or patent nonsense. I've deleted the opening part about Jerome—if he was referring to a human king, then what he said wasn't relevant to the identification of Pan with the Devil—and the Jews not identifying the serpent in Eden with the Devil; there's no clear relevance to Pan.  You're also correct in that "time to pay the piper" seems unlikely to be related to Pan; if it could be so related, a source ought to be found.  And of course while "pandemonium" in the metaphorical sense seems logically related to Pan, etymologically and as a proper noun it refers to "the abode of all demons", and not to Pan.  Perhaps the writer was thinking of "panic", which is supposed to be derived from Pan's name.  You're welcome to add something to the article about the etymology of "Pan", but it should have a reliable source.  Crowley is, as you say, not really a "scholarly source", but as his writing was quite well-known and influential, the fact that he noted similarities in depictions of Pan and the Devil has some relevance.  I've reworded that to make it sound less like the novel discovery of an expert in mythology.  P Aculeius (talk) 04:10, 16 November 2021 (UTC)

Image of bestiality needs removing - not suitable for children!
Can someone please remove the image of Pan having sex with a goat. Wikipedia is accessed by children. Even as an adult I did not want to see that. 109.150.40.85 (talk) 20:54, 24 September 2023 (UTC)


 * I agree that it's not a particularly nice or pleasant statue by modern standards—and it might not be the best choice to illustrate the article, but if so then it's not because it's "not suitable for children". Wikipedia isn't censored, and chooses images based on their suitability to illustrate relevant themes in an article.  Pan is certainly associated with bestiality in some traditions, even if that's not what he's mainly associated with in Greek mythology, or in modern times.  The image might be appropriate to illustrate that, in which case it can't be removed just because children might be exposed to it or adults might not like it.  Whether it gives undue attention to a minor point, or is a poor or unnecessary means of illustrating it, can certainly be debated here.  But it shouldn't be removed solely because some people find it offensive, or worry that it'll harm children (and it probably won't—you don't protect children by pretending that sex or distasteful things don't exist, or trying to shield them from ever finding out about them; and attempting to do so does a disservice to readers looking for honest and uncensored information).  P Aculeius (talk) 17:50, 25 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Modern standards vary so much (cf the Florida row over David). You used to need the King Of Naples' permission to see Pan and the Goat, now it travels the world and has been featured by such as the Telegraph, TLS and BBC, and in the British Museum's book of their 2013 Pompeii exhibition at which it was not hidden away. NebY (talk) 18:46, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: HUM 202 - Introduction to Mythology
— Assignment last updated by Mythgirlie23 (talk) 03:51, 12 October 2023 (UTC)

Another source
Here's another recent source: Robichaud, Paul, Pan: The Great God's Modern Return (2021) ISBN 978-1789144765.  Esowteric +  Talk  +  Breadcrumbs   09:18, 22 December 2023 (UTC)


 * Might help if you indicated precisely what it's a source for. It's an extensive article with lots of sources, ancient and modern, so general sources aren't really needed.  If it says something about a specific fact or set of facts that aren't already adequately covered or cited, feel free to cite this in the article itself.  P Aculeius (talk) 11:08, 22 December 2023 (UTC)