Pan & His Pipes

The woodland god Pan was a romantic fellow whose favorite pastime was chasing down & seducing women. One fine day, Syrinx, the daughter of the river god Ladon, was walking along the riverbank near Pan's domain. When He spotted Her, Pan set off & chased the frightened nymph for some time. When He got close enough, He reached out to snatch Her. Syrinx screamed out to Her father to protect Her, and Ladon promptly changed Her into a clump of reeds at the river's edge.

Hating to lose the game, Pan waited a long time for Syrinx to change back, but She never did. Eventually, the woodland god plucked some of the
reeds & bound them together in a horizontal line with stopped ends. When He blew across the open upper end, he found the music beautiful. Thus, the syrnix, or pan-pipes, were invented.

Although Pan came to be known as a lecherous being under patriarchal rule, originally He symbolized the male forces of nature. Pan was a son of the Earth, the Little God, a fertility deity & truly not the bad sort that Christians made Him out to be.