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In classical mythology, Syrinx (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 S?????) was a nymph
Nymph

In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human form. They were typically associated with a particular location or landform....
 and a follower of Artemis
Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
, known for her chastity
Chastity

Chastity is sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethics norms and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion.In the western world, the term has become closely associated with sexual abstinence, especially Pre-marital sex....
. Pursued by the amorous Greek god Pan, she ran to the river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, she was transformed into hollow water reed
Phragmites

Phragmites australis, the common reed, is a large perennial plant Poaceae found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world....
s that made a haunting sound when the god's frustrated breath blew across them. Pan cut the reeds to fashion the first set of pan pipes, which were thenceforth known as syrinx.






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In classical mythology, Syrinx (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 S?????) was a nymph
Nymph

In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human form. They were typically associated with a particular location or landform....
 and a follower of Artemis
Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
, known for her chastity
Chastity

Chastity is sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethics norms and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion.In the western world, the term has become closely associated with sexual abstinence, especially Pre-marital sex....
. Pursued by the amorous Greek god Pan, she ran to the river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, she was transformed into hollow water reed
Phragmites

Phragmites australis, the common reed, is a large perennial plant Poaceae found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world....
s that made a haunting sound when the god's frustrated breath blew across them. Pan cut the reeds to fashion the first set of pan pipes, which were thenceforth known as syrinx. (Ovid
Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
, Metamorphoses ) The word syringe was derived from this word.

Syrinx in literature

The story became popular among artists and writers in the 19th century. The Victorian artist and poet Thomas Woolner
Thomas Woolner

Thomas Woolner was an English sculpture and poet.Born in Hadleigh, Suffolk he was a founder-member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Woolner trained with the sculptor William Behnes, exhibiting work at the Royal Academy from 1843....
 wrote Silenus, a long narrative poem about the myth, in which Syrinx becomes the lover of Silenus, but drowns when she attempts to escape rape by Pan, as a result of which crime Pan is transmuted into a demon figure and Silenus becomes a drunkard. Amy Clampitt
Amy Clampitt

Amy Clampitt was an American poet and author....
's poem Syrinx refers to the myth by relating the whispering of the reeds to the difficulties of language.

Syrinx in art

The Victorian artist, Arthur Hacker
Arthur Hacker

Arthur Hacker was an England classicist painter.Born in London in 1858, Hacker was the son of Edward Hacker, a line engraver specialising in animal and sporting prints ....
 (September 25, 1858 – November 12, 1919), depicted Syrinx in his 1892 nude. This painting in oil on canvas is currently on display in Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery

Manchester Art Gallery is a free-to-view municipally-owned public art gallery in Manchester City Centre in the North West England.The Gallery was extended by Hopkins Architects in May 2002 to take in the old Atheneaum building next door, and now occupies three buildings....
.

An animated short, produced by the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes innovative, socially relevant documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions....
 and Animated by Ryan Larkin
Ryan Larkin

Ryan Larkin was a Canada animator, artist, and sculptor who rose to fame with the psychedelic 1969 in film Academy Award-nominated short Walking and the acclaimed Street Musique who was the subject of the Oscar-winning film Ryan ....
, depicts the mythological "Syrinx" being pursued by Pan.

Syrinx in classical music

Claude Debussy wrote "Syrinx (La Flute De Pan)"
Syrinx (Debussy)

Syrinx is a piece of music for Solo flute which Claude Debussy wrote in 1913 . It is commonly considered to be an indispensable part of any flautist's flute repertory....
 based on Pan's sadness over losing his love. This piece was the first unaccompanied flute solo of the 20th century, and remains a very popular addition to the modern flutist's repertoire. It was used as incidental music in the play Psyché by Gabriel Mourey.

Danish composer Carl Nielsen
Carl Nielsen

Carl August Nielsen was a conducting, violinist, and composer from Denmark. His works have long been well known in Denmark and they have been "a mainstay throughout the Nordic countries and, to a lesser extent, in Britain," noted the critic Alex Ross in 2008 in The New Yorker, and rising young conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel and Alan G...
 composed "Pan and Syrinx" (Pan og Syrinx), Op. 49, FS 87.

French composer Yvonne Desportes composed "6 Dances pour Syrinx" - for guitar and flute.

See also

  • Syrinx in popular culture
    Syrinx in popular culture

    The nymph Syrinx has appeared in several works of modern culture.*The Canadian rock band Rush wrote "The Temples of Syrinx", part of their twenty-minute epic track, 2112 ....