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The Great God Pan (Hardcover)

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3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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  Library Binding, May 12, 2003 $17.99 $1.57 $0.84
  Hardcover, May 13, 2003 -- $1.48 $0.01
  Mass Market Paperback, February 7, 2005 -- -- $12.09

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-10-Meet Pan: half-god/half-goat, full of life, frolicking in the woods with maenads, playing his pipes, and creating pan-ic. In Napoli's version of the story, he meets Iphigenia by chance and falls in love with her. Innocence disappears, and the curse placed upon him at birth-that he will never be loved-seems destined to come true, for his life revolves around finding her again. And he does find her, just as she is about to be sacrificed by her own father. Pan devises a trick to save Iphigenia's life at the expense of his own, his love for the woman outweighing his lust for life. Napoli has written a fine story-it is fast paced, the characters and setting are well realized, and it even has intrigue and randy scenes of woodland romps tailored for teens. However, scholars of Greek mythology will find a strange dichotomy in this story: many bits of the known tales of both Pan and Iphigenia are here, but there is also a fabricated story that connects the two characters. Napoli has included many details from ancient texts, providing needed background for mythology novices. However, she has also created a story that fills in the "gaps" in each tale, rewriting myth for modern readers. Purists may find fault with this, but teens who enjoyed books such as Caroline Cooney's Goddess of Yesterday (Delacorte, 2002) will simply find a good story.
Angela J. Reynolds, Washington County Cooperative Library Services, Hillsboro, OR
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. As she did with Zel (1996) and Sirena (1998), Napoli reweaves an ancient story. Using first person, she boldly tells the tale of the god Pan, half man and half goat, and makes it a wrenchingly tender epic. Pan, the source of the word panic and of the pan pipes, is unsure of his parentage and of his place in the universe. Where does he belong? Whom can he count on? Who will love him? Napoli offers a beautiful metaphor of adolescence in Pan's dual journey of human and animal, god and mortal. When Pan falls in love with the princess Iphigenia, for whom a terrible fate awaits, he finds a way, at last, of saving her. Filling in gaps that appear in other myths about Pan and Iphigenia, Napoli creates a novel filled with breathtaking language about nature, music, and desire. Teen readers will swoon. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 9-12
  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books; 2nd edition (May 13, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385327773
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385327770
  • Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #889,093 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Not her best, but sparkling with rich detail and new love!, July 3, 2003
A Kid's Review
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.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Pan falls in love, September 15, 2009
This review is from: The Great God Pan (Mass Market Paperback)
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
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3.0 out of 5 stars "Never Fall in Love with a Mortal...", February 9, 2007
By R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Great God Pan (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
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. Read more
Published on December 2, 2006 by Teresa Pons

4.0 out of 5 stars Napoli departs from classical literature
It is said that the gods and goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology mimic some of the best and worst faults of humans. Read more
Published on June 9, 2005 by Yvonne Kurtz

2.0 out of 5 stars Expected better but mildly interesting...
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... Read more
Published on August 14, 2004 by Victory Silvers

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