Limestone statuette of Pan

Limestone statuette of Pan

"Cypriot deity of rural life and fertility"

"This figure with the horns and ears of a goat wears an animal skin and holds a syrinx (double pipes) and a pedum (shepherd's crook). Images of this type first appeared in Cypriot sanctuaries during the Hellenistic period. They may represent Pan, the Greek god who protected herdsmen and shepherds, or they may be associated with Opaon Melanthios, a Cypriot deity of rural life and fertility, who is known from inscriptions."

This object that was from the Cyprus society during the Hellenistic period tells us that the poor and homeless had their own gods or traditions to help them out through out their challenges. Specifically this object shows a reference to a Greek god named Pan who helped out the needy,shepherds and herdsmen. This object seems to be taken seriously since it would be found in Cypriot sanctuaries. Seems like many didn’t help out the poor, so the poor needed some type of help or someone to pray to. This object shows that the poor may have not been helped right away.

Greek

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/242286The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

"1000 B.C.-A.D. 1 (33,074)"

Julieta Garcia-Cordova

Copyright, The Metropolitan Museum Art.
Used here for educational purposes only.

"The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76"

"Overall: 12 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (31.8 x 14 x 7 cm)"

English

Image

"Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. CXIX.867, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company."

"Limestone statuette of Pan or Opaon Melanthios"