Pan and Syringa

And the great Pan was not spared by the arrows of the golden-winged Erota. He fell in love with a beautiful nymph Syringa. The nymph was proud and rejected the love of all. As for Latona's daughter, the great Artemis, hunting was a favorite pastime for Syringa. They often even mistook Syringa for Artemis, so beautiful was the young nymph in her short clothes, with a quiver on her shoulders and a bow in her hands. Like two drops of water, she then resembled Artemis, only her bow was made of horn, and not gold, like the great goddess.

Pan saw Syringa one day and wanted to approach her. The nymph looked at Pan and fled in fear. Pan barely kept up with her, trying to catch up with her. But the river stopped the way. Where should the nymph run to? She stretched out her arms to the river Syringa and began to pray to the god of the river to save her. The god of the river heeded the nymph's pleas and turned her into a reed. Pan ran up and wanted to hug Syringa, but he hugged only a flexible, softly rustling reed. Pan stands, sighing sadly, and he hears the farewell greeting of the beautiful Syringa in the gentle rustle of the reeds. Pan cut off several reeds and made a mellifluous pipe out of them, fastening the unequal knees of the reed with wax. Pan named the pipe syringa in memory of the nymph. Since then, the great Pan loves to play in the solitude of the forests on the pipe-syringa, resounding with its gentle sounds the surrounding mountains.