He is one of the oldest Greek gods. More than 100 cult places are associated with his name in ancient Greece. Originally a mountain and forest deity, he induced panic in unwelcome visitors to his realms. He was a divine patron of music, drama, intoxication and sexuality. Pan was also known as the ancient God of sacrificial fertility. The goat-hooved and lusty king of the Arcadian satyrs, the original Horned One, he was closely identified with Dionysos and the cult of wine and ecstasy. This magnificent Renaissance image by Andrea Briosco (c. 1500) shows him carrying wine jug at hip and a cornucopia upon his shoulder. His open mouth induces panic as he utters the fearsome cry of Pan. Identical with Faunus, Silenus, Silvanus, Pan is the quintessential woodland god, demonized by the Church to diminish his powerful influence on pagans across Europe.
Pegasus
Pegasus was born when the hero Perseus slew the Gorgon Medusa and cut off her head from which Pegasus sprang forth. The Flying Horse Pegasus was a frolicsome and magic beast. After it's birth Pegasus flew off to Mount Helicon in Boeotia, where the nine Muses lived. Upon striking the ground one of its hooves opened up a spring of gushing water. The spring became known as the Hippocrene, which in Greek means The Horse's Fountain. It was said of the Hippocrene that drinking it's water conferred on one the gift of poetry. Pegasus became a symbol of poetry and the creative arts. Bellerophon had many adventures riding Pegasus, but presumption brought him to an end. He proposed to ride up through the sky to join the gods on the top of Mount Olympus. Zeus was not amused. Some say that he sent a stinging fly to cause Pegasus to rear and throw Bellerophon off. Others say that Zeus unseated Bellerophon with a thunderbolt. But whatever the cause, Bellerophon got pitched off the back of the Horse and fell to earth. It is said that the Horse continued on towards Olympus. For a while Zeus used the Horse to carry his thunderbolts. He then placed the animal among the stars as the constellation Pegasus.
Persephone
Persephone (Her Roman name was Proserpine), was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (Ceres). She was also called Kore, which is Greek for "daughter". She was kidnapped by Hades (Pluto), who married her and took her to his underworld and made her queen of the dead. Persephone did not marry Hades willingly. Even Zeus was powerless to get her out of the Underworld when her mother Demeter asked him to act on her behalf. Eventually a deal was made, with the messenger god Hermes acting as the mediator. Persephone would spend half the year with her mother, the goddess of the harvest. The Greeks believed that while Persephone was with Hades, her mother missed her so much that she withdrew her gifts from the world and winter came. In the spring, when Persephone rejoined her mother, Demeter would make things grow again.
