Homer left some details out

If you don’t care for this ending there’s always the variant tradition that makes Pan the Freddy Krueger of Greek Mythology.

From the Wikipedia article on Penelope:

In some early sources such as Pindar, Pan’s father is Apollo via Penelope. Herodotus (2.145), Cicero (ND 3.22.56), Apollodorus (7.38) and Hyginus (Fabulae 224) all make Hermes and Penelope his parents. Pausanias 8.12.5 records the story that Penelope had in fact been unfaithful to her husband, who banished her to Mantineia upon his return. Other sources (Duris of Samos; the Vergilian commentator Servius) report that Penelope slept with all 108 suitors in Odysseus’ absence, and gave birth to Pan as a result. [15] This myth reflects the folk etymology that equates Pan’s name (Πάν) with the Greek word for “all” (πᾶν).

One thought on “Homer left some details out

  1. because never let it be said that a heroine who is a bastion of fidelity and chastity should be left unmolested by writers, even those who should know better.

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