Customer Reviews

The Great God Pan

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If you have read anything by Donna Jo Napoli, you would already know how she takes old legends and faerie tales and makes them sparking with new life and love. This is definitely an example of her ability to do so, although not one of my most favorite works by her, it is a very absorbing tale, rich with detail, lust, and the suspicion of unrequited love. Here, the heart-breaking tale of the half-goat, half-god, Pan is brought to life. Pan has always been happy. He is loved by both the gods and the goddesses, satisfied with frolicking about with the myaids of the wood which he lives in. His father is Hermes, of the winged slippers, Hermes, who guides the dead to Hades, his mother, a nymph whom he has never met, who abandoned him with his father at birth. Pan is joy. Pan is playful. "Perfect Pan" say the maiyads. "Pan of panic" says his father. Pan is happy, yes. Until he meets Igphenia. Igphenia is daughter of a king and queen, only she is really the daughter of Helen, of Troy. Igphenia, who knows as much about herbs and plants, if not more, than Pan himself. Igphenia, who is a mortal. "Never fall in love with a mortal," the goddesses tell him. "There is too much pain." Yes, Pan's story is one of pain. He meets her in a field, where they talk about herbs, sharing new remedies with each other. And then she goes, back to her mother and father, and he cannot stop thinking about her. And later, after another accidental meeting, he is even more infuatuated with her. In his mind he denies that he is in love with her, in his mind and his mouth, yet he is. Pan of Pain. In the end, he proves his love, his deep love, more than a simple infuatuation, when he makes his ultimate sacrifice for her. This is a lovely book with a horribly sad ending, an ending that will stay with you long after you read the last words.

Donna Jo Napoli is famous for her retellings of fairytales; from Rapunzel ("Zel"), Rumplestiltskin ("Spinners") and Hansel and Gretel ("The Magic Circle"), but she's also done a couple of Greek myths as well: "Sirena", and this, "The Great God Pan". Taking inspiration from two mythological mysteries: the fate of Iphigenia (the king's daughter sacrificed in order to ensure safe passage to Troy) and the goat-legged god Pan (of whom Plutarch wrote: "the great god Pan is dead!") Napoli attempts to fill in the gaps in the stories.

Here Pan is presented as an innocent and carefree young god, who adores his father Hermes but whose mother is a mystery. He is happy roaming the countryside and sporadically spending time with the gods, till his life changes forever. He meets the young princess Iphigenia and cannot seem to get her out of his mind - especially when he begins to hear foreboding prophesies about her.

Napoli weaves in other myths, giving them her own personal touch: the story of the nymph Syrinx and the origins of the syrinx instrument, the death of the healer Asclepius and of Orion, and the musical tournament between Pan and Apollo. Told in rich descriptive language, Napoli tells a bittersweet tale about these two individuals, which fits in well with her established canon of retold tales. To be honest, it's a little forgettable, and quite nearly as good as some of her other books, but is an interesting enough read for a rainy day and a particularly good book for those wanting to read up on their Greek mythology. Napoli tells a sympathetic story without taking away the inherent darkness and mischievousness found in many of the tales (something that other authors often do), and - as was her goal - fleshes out the lives of both Pan and Iphigenia.

this is a tale of love between the Great God Pan...
dear lovers of mythology,
... and Iphigenia, who was sacrificed by the Greeks to appease the gods so that they would bring up the winds needed to sail to Troy. We've only read two of Donna Jo Napoli's books so far, this one and Sirena, but they were both wonderful retellings of ancient myths (in this case both greek myths). She is definitely worth reading.
kyela,
the silver elves

i have to admit, like all of Donna Jo Nappoli's books, she takes my breath away. on some of the latest comments i cannot agree.
honestly, this is one of the top three (in my opinion the other two are Sirena and Beast) As someone who has had a passion for disney, fantasy, mythology and fairy tales, i am at a shortage of words to describe what this small book did to me. I am 17 yrs old; and i can honestly say if you are a fan of this authors work, this book must be read despite other comments. I find The Great God Pan entrancing, magical and absolutely incredible. I cried halfway through it and continued till hours afterward.
I highly recommend it for those who like stories with plots and intelligent details with stomach butterflies.
PLEASE READ IT!!!!

It is said that the gods and goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology mimic some of the best and worst faults of humans. Donna Jo Napoli liberally illustrates this idea in this riveting tale which takes us back to a time when gods and goddesses ruled the earth.

Donna Jo Napoli has given a three dimensional quality to this charming story in which Pan, the god of the forest plays the central role. The story is written in first person and Napoli peppers her narrative with clever dialog and tirelessly records Pan's thoughts and emotions as she tells her story.

The major stories of Pan from classical literature are incorporated into this book, although Napoli uses literary license to to weave those stories together to form the story of the life of Pan. The story of Pan's interaction with Psyche in Apuleius's The Golden Ass is here, as well as the story of King Midas and Pan, and Syrinx and Pan, both from Ovid's Metamorpheses. The stories are altered, however. For instance, we see Pan weep over Syrinx's transformation into a tree, and Napoli describes Pan's thoughts of Psyche in less than sympathetic terms.

Napoli incorporates Pan into the story of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, who appears in Homer's Iliad as a sacrifice to Artemis at the beginning of the Trojan War. The incorporation is clever, but students of the classics may find fault with this rearrangement, as well as the startling final conclusion since it is not reflected in classical literature. Still, it's a fun book for anyone whether they're interested in classical mythology or not.

The story is readable and the print is fairly large, but I would recommend this book for high school students and above since these stories reflect some mature situations that are inherent in the retelling of many classical myths.

I've read some of the author's other retellings and was a bit disappointed with this one. We meet Pan, the half goat/half god who basically flits around the woods with other mythical creatures all day. It isn't until he meets Iphigenia and falls in love with her that his life really seems to have a purpose. People with any background in Greek mythology know that Pan had a curse placed on him upon birth that he will never be loved in return. His quest to find Iphigenia again then seems a bit fruitless to the reader, but what we don't realize is that he may be able to save her from her father's mission to sacrifice her. This book needed more detail. I felt it was lacking in some other areas as well, as the plot meandered quite a bit. I did like how the author included a family tree at the beginning so we understood how everyone was related however.