Pan as a Character in Ancient Art from the 6th Century BC to the 3rd Century AD: Semantics of the Image in Historical Contexts

The article examines the history of the image of Pan in ancient art, from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD. The evolution of the image has been traced in the historical context: in connection with political circumstances, religious ideas and myth-making of poets. The change in the semantics and role of the character is analyzed. Particular attention is paid to a previously unexplored topic — the significance of Pan in the art and religion of the Northern Black Sea region, where Pan acquires the function of the guide of the soul of the deceased to the afterlife. The specificity of Pan, his difference from other Olympic deities, lies in his continuous changes, from a character of a rural cult to a stoic “god of the universe”. The ability to quickly adapt to different cultural and historical contexts was partly due to the lack of a written tradition, but the main reason is the universal nature of the deity. In the history of the image, several periods of special interest in the character are distinguished. In the classical period in Attica, he joins the local gods who help the Greeks defeat the Persians, and his iconography converges with images of other heroes and gods. The next stage of rethinking the image occurs in the Hellenistic period, from the 3rd century BC. The mythology of Pan is enriched with genre and erotic subjects. A poetic view of the shepherd god appears in bucolic poetry and art; Pan’s presence in a real or imaginary landscape becomes a sign of a sacred landscape. This perception of the image of the god becomes relevant in the ideology of the Golden Age of Augustus. The last, most prolonged episode of Pan’s popularity is associated with the subjects of the Dionysian circle on Roman sarcophagi of the 1st–3rd centuries. Pan appears in his traditional role as a participant in libations and love scenes that take place in the other world, opening the way to the eternal life of the soul.