however, he may have been an old survival. The familiar form of his name is
contracted from earlier Παων, genitive Παονο, which is attested on a
sixth-century dedication (IG v(2). 556). The prototype reconstructed is a
derivative from the root *peh 2 ‘guard, watch over’ (cf. Hittite pah
̆
s-, Vedic and
Avestan pa ̄-, Latin pa ̄s-tor): perhaps Péh 2 ush 3 o ̄(n) and (by laryngeal meta-
thesis) genitive Puh 2 s(h 3 )nés. Partial generalization of the different Ablaut
grades could have led on the one hand to Pu ̄s
̇
án-, genitive Pu ̄s
̇n
̇áh
̇, on the
other to *Pa ̄(u)son- > Πα-(h)ον- > Πα- ́ν-.^6
The probability of the identification depends on the degree of similarity
obtaining between the functions of the two deities. They have in fact enough
in common to encourage the equation. Both are pastoral gods, with a special
affinity with the goat. Pu ̄s
̇
an has goats to pull his car (RV 1. 138. 4; 6. 55. 3–4,
cf. 6; 58. 2; 9. 67. 10; 10. 26. 8), and goats were sacrificed to him on occasion;
Pan has goat’s legs (Hymn. Hom. 19. 2, 37; Anon. mel. P. Oxy. 2624 fr. 1. 4 =
SLG 387). Both have bushy beards (RV 10. 26. 7; Hymn. Hom. 19. 39, PMG
- and keen sight: Pu ̄s
̇
- and keen sight: Pu ̄s
an goes about surveying everything (RV 2. 40. 5;
- 9; 6. 58. 2); Pan roams the mountains and climbs the peaks to view
theflocks.^7 Pu ̄s
̇
- 9; 6. 58. 2); Pan roams the mountains and climbs the peaks to view
an follows and protects the cattle (RV 6. 54. 5–10, 58. 2, 53. 9;
a producer of cattle, TS 2. 1. 1. 6; 2. 4. 4. 3). He is a guardian of roads who
protects the wayfarer from wolves and brigands (RV 1. 42. 1–3, 7; 6. 49. 8, 53.
1, 54. 9). Pan’s province includes ‘the rocky tracks’ (Hymn. Hom. 19. 7), and
in Hellenistic Egypt he was worshipped as εOοδο, ‘of good journeying’
(OGIS 38, 70–2, al.).
Some of Pu ̄s
̇
an’s functions parallel those for which Hermes is noted rather
than Pan.^8 Hermes too is a good lookout ($υ ̈ ́σκοπο Lργειφο ́ ντη), a god
of roads (Jδιο,$νο ́ διο,πομπαι
ο) and a guardian of flocks and herds. As
ψυχοπομπο ́ he guides the dead on the path that they must go, and similarly
Pu ̄s
̇
an conducts the dead to join their ancestors (RV 10. 17. 3–6; AV 18. 2.
53–5, cf. 16. 9. 2). Both gods also lead the bride to the groom.^9 With his
knowledge of ways and byways, Hermes can spirit away cattle or other
property; he is the patron god of the sneak-thief. But by the same token he is
good at finding things that are hidden, he knows where animals have strayed,
and he gets the credit if someone makes a lucky discovery (aρμαιον). As
μαστ ριο (Aesch. Supp. 920) he helps people to track down their stolen
(^6) On the linguistic analysis see especially N. Oettinger (as n. 5, 2000), 394–400.
(^7) Hymn. Hom. 19. 10 f. (cf. 14 for his sharp eyes); Leonidas epigr. 29. 3, Inscriptiones Creticae
i. xvi. 7. 2, Philip epigr. 20. 1, ‘forest-watcher’; Babr. 3. 7 ‘Pan who watches over the glens’; Orph.
Hymn. 11. 9.
(^8) Cf. Oldenberg (1917), 237 n. 1; C. Watkins in Cardona et al. (1970), 345–50= id. (1994),
446–51; Oberlies (1998), 202 f.
(^9) Watkins (as n. 8), 348 f. = 449 f.
282 7. Nymphs and Gnomes