<P> The parentage of Pan is unclear ; generally he is the son of Hermes , although occasionally in some myths he is the son of Zeus , or Dionysus , with whom his mother is said to be a wood nymph , sometimes Dryope or , even in the 5th - century AD source Dionysiaca by Nonnus ( 14.92 ) , Penelope of Mantineia in Arcadia . In some early sources such as Pindar , his father is Apollo via Penelope , the wife of Odysseus . 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 . This myth reflects the folk etymology that equates Pan 's name ( Πάν ) with the Greek word for `` all '' ( πᾶν ) . </P>
<P> The parentage of Pan is unclear ; generally he is the son of Hermes , although occasionally in some myths he is the son of Zeus , or Dionysus , with whom his mother is said to be a wood nymph , sometimes Dryope or , even in the 5th - century AD source Dionysiaca by Nonnus ( 14.92 ) , Penelope of Mantineia in Arcadia . In some early sources such as Pindar , his father is Apollo via Penelope , the wife of Odysseus . 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 . This myth reflects the folk etymology that equates Pan 's name ( Πάν ) with the Greek word for `` all '' ( πᾶν ) . </P>
who is often named the father of pan
who is often named the father of pan
Hermes
Hermes