Statue of Pan. Hever Castle, Kent, England.
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Image courtesy of Corel Corporation.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of Corel Corporation.
Faunus
Faunus was a Roman pastoral god. The Romans identified him with the Greek god Pan. Some times the Greek god Pan was associated with the different Roman deity Silvanus, the god of wild nature. Like his Greek counterpart, he had the legs and horns of a goat.Faunus was an oracular deity. He was able to predict the future that was revealed to him in dreams or in supernatural voices coming from sacred groves. He was also considered a very good musician.
Pan was singing one day and boasted he was a better musician than Apollo. A contest was held between the two, with Tmolus serving as judge. Apollo had a much better instrument than Pan, and was chosen the winner. Even though Tmolus chose Apollo as the winner, King Midas disagreed. Tmolus turned the king's ears into donkey ears as punishment.
