Pan — Greek mythology

Pan was the son of the messenger of the gods, Hermes. His mother was a wood nymph. His grandfather was the mighty Zeus, king of all the gods. Pan was a bit of a shock when he was born. He had two horns coming out of his forehead. He had the legs of a goat. He had a crooked nose and pointed ears.
His mother screamed when she saw him, and ran away. But Hermes wrapped the little guy warmly in a blanket and carried him off to Mount Olympus. It was not long before Pan was the delight of many of the gods and goddesses. Pan was a merry little fellow. Even Ares liked him a bit.

With Zeus' permission, Hermes gave his son the job of watching over shepherds and huntsmen. It was a perfect job for Pan. He loved to play in the woods and the meadows. He loved music and dancing and singing. In spite of his appearance, he made friends with many of the meadow and wood nymphs.

Family
Pan’s parentage is a bit ambiguous, but, according to most sources, he was the son of Hermes and a Dryad, whether Dryope (the daughter of the Arcadian hero Dryops) or Penelope of Mantineia.

Name
Gods tend to see things differently from mere mortals, so it should surprise nobody that, once Hermes wrapped Pan in warm skins of mountain hares and brought him before the Olympians, “all the immortals were glad in heart.” In fact, since “Pan” means “all” in Ancient Greek, it was believed that the origin of Pan’s name could be traced back to this event.

Pan and Music
Pan was the inventor of a musical instrument – called the panpipes or syrinx – which he learned to play so well that he even ended up challenging Apollo himself to a musical contest; unsurprisingly, he lost.