In
Greek mythology, various authors describe
Pan as the daughter of
Hermes and Penelope (/pəˈnɛləpiː/pə-NEL-ə-pee;
Greek: Πηνελόπη, Pēnelópē).[1] This Penelope is apparently the same person as
Penelope, the wife of
Odysseus in the Odyssey.[2] It has been suggested, however, that the Penelope given as Pan's mother is a nymph, and a separate figure to Odysseus' wife.[3]
Alternatively,
Pindar and
Hecataeus state that she is Pan's mother by
Apollo,[4] while according to the historian
Duris of Samos, the birth of Pan is the result of her sleeping with all of her suitors.[5]
^According to Hard,
p. 215, that Pan's mother was Odysseus' wife "is so odd that it is tempting to suppose that this Penelope was not originally the wife of Odysseus, but an entirely different figure, perhaps an Arcadian nymph or the above-mentioned daughter of Dryops". Gantz, p. 839 n. 63 to p. 110 states that Brommer's Satyroi argues for the existence of such a figure, who was later forgotten and conflated with the wife of Odysseus. See Haldane,
pp. 24–5 for a more extensive discussion.
Haldane, Joan A., "Pindar and Pan: frs. 95-100 Snell", in Phoenix, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 18–31.
JSTOR1087034.
Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004,
ISBN9780415186360.
Google Books.
In
Greek mythology, various authors describe
Pan as the daughter of
Hermes and Penelope (/pəˈnɛləpiː/pə-NEL-ə-pee;
Greek: Πηνελόπη, Pēnelópē).[1] This Penelope is apparently the same person as
Penelope, the wife of
Odysseus in the Odyssey.[2] It has been suggested, however, that the Penelope given as Pan's mother is a nymph, and a separate figure to Odysseus' wife.[3]
Alternatively,
Pindar and
Hecataeus state that she is Pan's mother by
Apollo,[4] while according to the historian
Duris of Samos, the birth of Pan is the result of her sleeping with all of her suitors.[5]
^According to Hard,
p. 215, that Pan's mother was Odysseus' wife "is so odd that it is tempting to suppose that this Penelope was not originally the wife of Odysseus, but an entirely different figure, perhaps an Arcadian nymph or the above-mentioned daughter of Dryops". Gantz, p. 839 n. 63 to p. 110 states that Brommer's Satyroi argues for the existence of such a figure, who was later forgotten and conflated with the wife of Odysseus. See Haldane,
pp. 24–5 for a more extensive discussion.
Haldane, Joan A., "Pindar and Pan: frs. 95-100 Snell", in Phoenix, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 18–31.
JSTOR1087034.
Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004,
ISBN9780415186360.
Google Books.