Pan and syringa. Pan

Legends and myths of ancient Greece (ill.) Kun Nikolai Albertovich

PAN AND SYRINGA

And the arrows of the golden-winged Eros did not escape the great Pan. He fell in love with the beautiful nymph Syringa. The nymph was proud and rejected the love of everyone. As for the daughter of Latona, the great Artemis, so for Syringa, hunting was a favorite pastime. Syringa was often even mistaken for Artemis, so beautiful was the young nymph in her short clothes, with a quiver over her shoulders and a bow in her hands. Like two drops of water, she then resembled Artemis, only her bow was made of horn, and not golden, like that of the great goddess.

Pan, god - patron of flocks and shepherds. Pan has a pipe in his hand.

(Statue 1st century BC)

Pan once saw Syringa and wanted to approach her. The nymph looked at Pan and fled in fear. Pan could barely keep up with her, trying to catch up with her. But the path was blocked by a river. Where should the nymph run? Siringa stretched out her hands to the river and began to pray to the god of the river to save her. The river god heeded the nymph's pleas and turned her into a reed. Pan ran up and wanted to hug Syringa, but he only hugged the flexible, quietly rustling reed. Pan stands, sighing sadly, and in the gentle rustling of the reeds he hears the farewell greetings of the beautiful Syringa. Pan cut several reeds and made a sweet-sounding pipe out of them, fastening the unequal ends of the reed with wax. Pan named the pipe Syringa in memory of the nymph. Since then, the great Pan loves to play the syringa pipe in the solitude of the forests, resounding with its gentle sounds in the surrounding mountains.

Rubens, Pan and Syringa. Where is the nymph running?

Rubens, Pan and Syringa.
Where is the nymph running?

P.P. Rubens. "Pan and Syringa"

- Girl, how beautiful you are! Everyone is probably pestering you?
- Yes.
- And you refuse everyone?
- Yes.
- You'll regret it!

This anecdote comes to mind when you see the painting “Pan and Syringa”. Two characters: a shaggy, goat-footed, muscular male creature (Pan) and a young maiden (the nymph Syringa).

He seems to grab her, she seems to fight back. In his hands is a transparent cape, which, apparently, was on the girl. She still holds it with her right hand, covering her charms. And the red blanket has almost fallen off, barely hanging on to his shoulder.

His intentions are clear: he wants to achieve her. And she doesn’t need this at all. His left hand is already hugging the girl, but in fact it is an armful of reeds, a hint at the development of events. It takes place in the swamp thickets (not the most suitable place for love affairs). But his love got to him (“You are good, reeds, in the evening!”).

Who are they, the characters in the picture? Their story is told by Hermes, who went on the instructions of Zeus to kill Argus and free his mistress Io, whom Zeus turned into a cow (hiding his sins), and then was forced to give her to his jealous wife Hera (and Hera knew exactly who this cow was! ). A confusing story... And so Hermes with his pipe got to Argus, began to play with the intention of putting him to sleep and, answering the question of the half-asleep watchman, where this magic pipe came from, told him about how Pan chased Syringa, how she left him ran away, and what came of it all.

Pan is the son of Hermes (in the Greek pantheon of gods - Hermes, in the Roman - Mercury). Hermes is a god, the son of Zeus. But for some reason he decided to earn extra money as a shepherd and went to Arcadia for this (Arcadia is a region of Greece). What and why is unclear, but “what happened happened.” And how a simple mortal immortal shepherd fell madly in love with a nymph who could not resist him... And here it’s time to remember Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin: “The queen gave birth that night to either a son or a daughter, Not a mouse, not a frog, but unknown animal." The nymph gave birth to a boy: “He had horns, with the legs of a goat, noisy, laughing” (Homeric hymns, “To Pan”).

Rubens, "Pan and Syringa". Fragment. Pan

Hermes was a normal child. And he became quite handsome as an adult. How it happened that he had such an unusual son, to put it mildly, is unclear: either he was in too much of a hurry, or the nymph desperately resisted. But that's how it happened.

Mother, naturally, was beside herself:

So Pan became orphaned, he never heard from his mother and never met her.

Moreover, he decided to show his son to the Olympian gods:

Rubens, "Pan and Syringa". Fragment. Syringa

What kind of business this boy had, what he did, how he grew up is unknown. It is reliably known that he spent time in the company of nymphs, sang, played, and danced. As for all this, perhaps with everyone, but information has reached us only about a select few. He is immortal, which is (probably) why his games continue to this day.

Now about Syringa. She is a nymph, the daughter of a river god from Arcadia. And I did what...

Multi-stemmed syringa (Photo: Color, Shutterstock)

And she was beautiful - a copy of Diana, only the bow was not golden. All activities - running through the forest half naked (and maybe even without clothes), seducing all male creatures with your beauty, and then escaping from everyone in order to remain a girl in honor of Diana (Ortygian goddess - Diana, Ortygia - the ancient name Delos Island, homeland of Diana).

One day Pan saw her, was completely stunned and also began to chase her, seeking reciprocity. She doesn’t care, she runs away and runs away. And here are reeds, a swamp, a river. There is nowhere to run further. Apparently, she didn’t know how to swim, and she was also incredibly tired. And she asked her water sisters to hide her. Pan had already caught up with her, hugged her - and then he saw that he was holding an armful of reeds in his hands.

He groaned with frustration:

Pan teaches Daphnis to play the syringa

There was a nymph Syringa - she turned into a reed, and then into a flute, which received her own name “Siringa”. Two paired pipes of different lengths are the primary version of the flute. Over time, the instrument became more complex, the design changed, and the flute became transverse. But the longitudinal flute also developed: it became multi-barreled. Each trunk, each tube makes its own sound.

By the way, about Pan's dad, Hermes. Let's go back to the beginning, when Hermes tells Argus where such a pipe came from that puts you to sleep. This means that the son (Pan) provided the father (Hermes) with syringa. Why and why? Maybe Pan was convinced that the sounds of his flute put him to sleep (and used this in his communication with the nymphs)? And Hermes, knowing this, asked his son to make one for him when he went to kill Argus?

In general, a cheerful family with terrible heredity. Syringa was right: it is better to be a reed than to suffer from such a thing. Pan’s complaints that he remained in his own interests, his words that the memory of the nymph will remain in the sounds and name of the flute, is nothing more than a ploy to pity another nymph.

The instrument became a symbol of pastoral, rural idyll. Moreover, the statue “Pan teaching Daphnis to play the syringa” has been preserved: the art of seduction with the help of a musical instrument was passed on from one craftsman to another. In this case, Daphnis, who seduced Chloe (although the flute did not participate in that process).

Here's the story. And if you cut a reed and blow into it, you will hear an echo of an ancient tale about how he was catching up with her, and she ran away...

Pan. Myth of Pan and Syringa. N. A. Kun. Legends and myths of Ancient Greece

God Pan, although one of the most ancient gods of Greece, had in the Homeric era and later, until the 2nd century. BC, of little significance. The very fact that the god Pan was depicted as half-man - half-goat (a relic of totemism) indicates the antiquity of this god. Initially, Pan was the god of the forest, the god of shepherds, and the guardian of flocks. Even in Arcadia and Argos, where Pan was more revered, he was not included among the Olympian gods. But gradually the god Pan loses his original character and becomes the patron god of all nature.

Among the retinue of Dionysus one could often see the god Pan. When the great Pan was born, his mother, the nymph Dryope, looked at her son and fled in horror. He was born with goat legs and horns and a long beard. But his father, Hermes, was delighted at the birth of his son, he took him in his arms and carried him to bright Olympus to the gods. All the gods rejoiced loudly at the birth of Pan and laughed as they looked at him.
God Pan did not stay to live with the gods on Olympus. He went into the shady forests, into the mountains. There he grazes his flocks, playing a sonorous pipe. As soon as the nymphs hear the wonderful sounds of Pan’s pipe, they rush to him in crowds, surround him, and soon a merry round dance moves along the green, secluded valley, to the sounds of Pan’s music. Pan himself loves to take part in the dances of the nymphs. When Pan is cheerful, then a cheerful noise rises in the forests along the mountain slopes. Nymphs and satyrs frolic merrily along with the noisy goat-footed Pan. When the hot afternoon comes, Pan retires to the dense thicket of the forest or to a cool grotto and rests there. It is dangerous to disturb Pan then; he is quick-tempered, he can send a heavy oppressive sleep in anger, he can, unexpectedly appearing, frighten the traveler who disturbed him. Finally, he can also send panic fear, such horror when a person rushes headlong to run, without making out the road, through forests, through mountains, along the edges of abysses, not noticing that flight threatens him with death every minute. It happened that Pan inspired such fear in an entire army, and it turned into an uncontrollable flight. You should not irritate Pan - when he flares up, he is formidable. But if Pan is not angry, then he is merciful and good-natured. He sends many blessings to the shepherds. The great Pan, a cheerful participant in the dances of frantic maenads, a frequent companion of the god of wine Dionysus, protects and cares for the herds of the Greeks. (Myth of Pan and Syringa)

Pan and Syringa

Contest between Pan and Apollo

Pan was proud of his flute playing. One day he challenged Apollo himself to a competition. It was on the slopes of Mount Tmola. The judge was the god of this mountain. In a purple cloak, with a golden cithara in his hands and a laurel wreath, Apollo appeared at the competition. Pan was the first to start the competition. The simple sounds of his shepherd's pipe were heard, they gently rushed along the slopes of Tmol. Pan finished. When the echoes of his pipe fell silent, Apollo struck the golden strings of his cithara. The majestic sounds of divine music poured out. Everyone standing around, enchanted, listened to Apollo’s music. The golden strings of the cithara thundered solemnly, all nature plunged into deep silence, and in the midst of the silence a melody full of wondrous beauty flowed in a wide wave. Apollo finished; the last sounds of his cithara died away. The god of Mount Tmola awarded Apollo victory. Everyone praised the great kifared god. Only Midas did not admire the game of Apollo, but praised the simple game of Pan. Apollo became angry, grabbed Midas by the ears and pulled them out. Since then, Midas has donkey ears, which he diligently hides under a large turban. And the saddened Pan, defeated by Apollo, retreated deeper into the thicket of the forests; The tender sounds of his pipe are often heard there, full of sadness, and young nymphs listen to them with love.

painting “Pan and Syringa”, Peter Paul Rubens, 1617. State Museum, Kassel, Germany

Pan stands, sighing sadly, and in the gentle rustling of the reeds he hears the farewell greetings of the beautiful Syringa. Pan cut several reeds and made a sweet-sounding pipe out of them, fastening the unequal ends of the reed with wax. Pan named the pipe Syringa in memory of the nymph. Since then, the great Pan loves to play the syringa pipe in the solitude of the forests, resounding with its gentle sounds in the surrounding mountains.