In ancient Greece Pan was the god of woods and of pastures. Pan was half man and half goat.  He was mostly human in appearance, but his lower half was that of a goat and had horns on his head.   The Greeks believed that Pan dwelled in the forests in far out of reach places such as mountains and caves. 

Pan was the protector of Sheppard's and their flocks.  Farmers and Sheppard's throughout Greece prayed to him for the protection and fertility of their livestock.

It was believed that under his influence people would become suddenly angry. Sudden fits of anger for no apparent reason were therefore attributed to the god Pan.  As Pan was unpredictable in his actions, unreasonable actions of an individual were usually  attributed to this god.

The word "Panic" comes from his name. It is believed that there are two reasons for this.  The first is that in "The war of the Titans" he was present and his yelling caused them to retreat! The second is that the noises he made as he went through the woods in the middle of the night caused travelers to run away in fear.

Pan was the son of Hermes and Penelope.  The worship of Pan began in Arcadia in southern Greece.  This is a region where his father Hermes was also worshiped.  Eventually Pan became one of the most venerated deities in ancient Greece, and was widely worshiped.  

He is most famous for the music he played on a pipe.  Pan is said to have been hideous, yet he had many affairs with various Nymphs. When Pan approached the Nymph Syrinx she ran away from him in fear to the gods of Olympus. The gods of Olympus  pitied her and changed her into many reeds.  Pan decided that he still would possess the Nymph even if it could not be in the manner that he wished, taking the reeds he made a panpipe. Pan created beautiful music with his instrument, music of an unreturned love.