Pan and Syrinx

Author: Nonnus; Ovid

Time Period: 999 BCE–1 CE; 1 BCE–500 CE

Country or Culture: Greek; Roman

Genre: Myth

Overview

Characterized by his half-goat body, his love of women, and his musical talent, the Greek god Pan has been a recurrent figure throughout Western literature and art. At the heart of this is the myth of Pan and Syrinx, a brief but resonant story about an encounter between Pan and a naiad, or water nymph. While Pan chases nymphs in many myths, to varying degrees of success, it is the myth in which he chases Syrinx that has arguably become the signature Pan legend.

The tender canes were shaken by the wind; / And breathed a mournful air, unheard before; / That much surprising Pan, yet pleased him more. / Admiring this new music, ‘Thou,’ he said, / ‘Who canst not be the partner of my bed, / At least shalt be the confort of my mind / And often to my lips be join’d.’

Metamorphoses

Perhaps the best-known version of the myth comes from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. One of the most significant works of literature in the Western canon, Metamorphoses wanders through Greek mythology, recounting familiar stories and focusing on moments of transformation and transfiguration. Alongside this focus, Ovid crafts a running theme in which love and romance triumph over the foolishness of both gods and mortals. While the most powerful figures of Greek mythology strive to win over the objects of their affections, love itself continually makes them look foolish, lost, and inept. Nestled briefly in the first book of Ovid’s masterpiece is the tale of Pan’s encounter with the nymph Syrinx in the fields of Arcadia. While Pan instantly pursues the striking beauty, Syrinx flees the god, committed as she is to virginity and the virtues of her goddess, Artemis. Pan eventually catches up to the nymph but finds that she has been transformed into a growth of water reeds. He overcomes his disappointment by cutting the reeds and forming them into a musical instrument. This instrument, the syrinx (or panpipe), is the characteristic flute that Pan is regularly represented as carrying, using the music as a stand-in for his romance of the nymph.

While the story itself has been retold in poetry and art for centuries, its focus on conquest and objectification makes it particularly interesting to feminist critics. Pan is a stereotypically masculine figure, and his attempt to capture Syrinx amounts to nothing more than attempted rape. Likewise, Syrinx herself is a figure of beauty and feminine strength, qualities that are revealed both through the descriptions of her body and through her association with the goddess Artemis. Pan’s attempt to conquer Syrinx and sexualize the devoted virgin presents a heightened struggle between the feminine and masculine realms, with the feminine figure showing her ingenuity and strength and the masculine figure using his brute force to triumph overall. In the final moment, with Syrinx transfigured into reeds and Pan intent on making his instrument, the roles of the masculine and the feminine reach a loaded and symbolic head, transforming the myth into a story much more insidious than it may at first appear.

Summary

Syrinx, a beautiful water nymph, lives on the plains of Arcadia, an idyllic land of natural, pastoral beauty and home to a large number of shepherds as well as the mystical creatures of the forest. Like many other naiads, Syrinx is a follower of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, virginity, and girlhood. Artemis is one of the most powerful and widely worshipped goddesses, and her connection to the world of the forest allows her to heal women and aid in childbirth. She is a goddess committed to the natural world and to women, and as such, she scorns the affections of men, preferring instead to hunt with the ladies of the woods. In admiration of these powers, Syrinx has dedicated herself to the pursuits and ideals of Artemis. She dresses as Artemis dresses, carries a bow as she travels the plains and hunts, and commits herself to the virginity that Artemis represents. Although the sylvans have sought her affection and the male gods of the rural areas have tried to seduce her, she has avoided them all, staying true to virginity and the hunt as well as to her chosen goddess.

Although Syrinx is as tall and beautiful as Artemis herself, her beauty is not the only reason that so many men have tried to win her over. The affection of the men is also based on her strength and her fair presentation, both of which are striking enough that those catching a glimpse of her running across the fields often mistake her for Artemis. It is in one of these moments, Syrinx happily in pursuit of the hunt, that the god Pan first sees her. Like Artemis, Pan is a god of the wilderness and of hunting, at home and happy in the lands of Arcadia. He has the legs, horns, and fur of a goat, although in other regards he maintains the look of a man. Unlike Artemis, he represents the male side of sensuality and sexuality, and in place of the virginity Artemis cherishes, Pan celebrates fertility and carnal pleasure. A constant companion to the nymphs known as much for his sexual appetite as for his musical skills, Pan is immediately taken by the striking beauty of the wild Syrinx. Confident in his skills as a seducer, Pan fixes a crown of pine needles around his head and comes down from the mountain Lycaeus in order to approach her. However, just as he begins to speak and attempt to win her affection, Syrinx takes flight, running toward the river nearby.

Pan is not one to give up on sex, nor does he particularly care whether the nymph returns his affection, so he chases after the naiad, ready to take her by force. Syrinx knows Pan’s reputation and his intention, and she does not intend to lose her virginity and her dedication to Artemis by indulging his desires. After all, she has escaped many lesser gods and many more men in the wilderness of Arcadia. Running as fast as she can and ignoring the words of the wilderness god, she eventually reaches the river Ladon, where she collapses from exhaustion. Although she cannot go any farther, she hopes that the river itself will be a safe destination, and she pleads with her fellow water nymphs to save her. A moment later, Pan arrives in hot pursuit, holding his arms out and embracing the air where he thinks the nymph will stand. Instead, however, Pan realizes that he has closed his arms around a growth of reeds that had not been there a moment before.

Pan is incredibly disappointed, unused as he is to failing in his quest to capture a nymph (although situations similar to his failure with Syrinx occur in several other myths). As he sighs and laments this poor outcome, a gentle breeze causes the reeds to create a low and gentle sound, the air filling the hollow plant as if it were a flute. The mournful music of the reeds fills the air, and Pan, never having heard such a sound before, realizes that the gods of the river must have transformed Syrinx into the plants in order to save her from him. While Syrinx has, through this magic, managed to avoid the loss of her virginity and become a permanent part of the landscape she so loves, Pan realizes that he has the opportunity to take her for his own in a different way. She might not give him the sexual pleasure that he first sought, but he can find comfort of the mind and the pleasure of music through her new form. Pan then cuts the reeds to unequal lengths and affixes them together, waxing them to aid in their appearance and durability. With the unequal lengths, every reed creates a different note, and Pan is able to play his own music with this new instrument, expressing his desire for Syrinx in song rather than in body.

Naming this instrument a syrinx, Pan leaves the side of the river, pleased that he has found a way to win over the nymph after all. From that point on, he always has the instrument with him, joining his lips to the reeds and creating the pastoral music with which he becomes forever associated.

Bibliography

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Hardie, Philip R. Ovid’s Poetics of Illusion. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print.

Hogue, Cynthia. Scheming Women: Poetry, Privilege, and the Politics of Subjectivity. New York: State U of New York P, 1999. Print.

Landels, John G. Music in Ancient Greece and Rome. London: Routledge, 1999. Print.

Mermin, Dorothy. Elizabeth Barrett Browning: The Origins of a New Poetry. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1989. Print.

Ovid. “Transformation of Syrinx into Reeds.” Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. Trans. John Dryden et al. London: Valpy, 1833. 31–33. Print.

Zecher, Carla. Sounding Objects: Musical Instruments, Poetry, and Art in Renaissance France.Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2007. Print.