bythegods:

Pan

Pan is the semi-lovable faun-type-thing from Greek mythology. His parentage is unclear, with Zeus, Hermes, or Dionysus all contenders for fatherhood, but his mother is almost definitely a nymph. Even though he’s often thought of as a lesser deity, he had renowned parentage, and maintained status of an important Greek god. He is usually depicted with goat-like horns, a shaggy face and hair, and the legs and hooves of a goat.

Pan is known for being playful and energetic, with his preferred musical instrument, the pipes/pan flute, always on hand. Pan could be a frightening god when he wanted to be, blowing on a conch to inflict terror on any who heard the sound it made. He used this fear-inducing conch to help scatter the Titans and aid the Olympians in their war, and is also credited with putting panic in the hearts of the Persian armies in the Battle of Marathon.

Music was his thing, and he wouldn’t shut up about how talented he was. He even claimed to be better than Apollo, god of the lyre, in this regard, and Apollo wasn’t about to suffer a little half-goat rival. After whooping Pan in a straight-up music contest, the faun demanded a rematch. Apollo set the terms that they would play upside-down, and while his lyre-playing was unaffected, Pan couldn’t operate his pipes in that position, and Apollo took the win.