D I V I N I T I E S O F T H E E A R T H.
P A N.
Pan was the god of shepherds, and of all inhabitants of the country; he was the son of Mercury by Driope, and is usually described as possessing two small horns on his head, his complexion ruddy, his nose flat, and his legs, thighs, tail and feet hairy, like those of a goat. When he was brought into the world, the nurse, terrified at sight of him, ran away in horror, and his father wrapping him up in the skins of beasts, carried him to Heaven, where Jupiter and the other Gods, entertained themselves with the oddity of his appearance; Bacchus was delighted with him, and gave him the name of Pan.
———————"Sprung the rude God to light;
Of dreadful form, and horrible to sight;
Goat-footed, horned, yet full of sport and joy,
The nurse, astonished, fled the wondrous boy:
His shaggy limbs, the trembling matron feared,
His face distorted, and his rugged beard:
But Hermes from her hands received the child,