Syrinx

Syrinx was an Arcadian nymph, a follower of Artemis, who fled from the god Pan and was changed into marsh reeds. Pan joined reeds of unequal length with wax to make the first panpipes, which the Greeks called the syrinx after her. The best-known telling is Ovid’s in the Metamorphoses.

Who Was Syrinx?

In Ovid, Syrinx was the most celebrated of the Hamadryads of Nonacris, a Naiad among the cold mountains of Arcadia (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.689–691). The nymphs called her Syrinx. Ovid does not give her parents.

She was a devotee of the Ortygian goddess, Artemis, and like her kept her virginity. Ovid says that when she girded her dress in the manner of Diana she could be taken for the daughter of Latona, except that her bow was of horn and the goddess’s was of gold. She had often eluded satyrs who pursued her, and other gods as well (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.692–698).

Pan and Syrinx

As she was coming back from Mount Lycaeus, Pan saw her. He wore a wreath of sharp pine needles on his head, and he began to speak to her (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.698–700). In Ovid the story is told by Mercury (Hermes) to the many-eyed Argus, to lull him to sleep. Mercury’s tale breaks off at Pan’s words, so what Pan said is never given; the poet sums up the rest that Mercury was still to tell, and Mercury, seeing all of Argus’ eyes closed in sleep, falls silent and kills him (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.700–719).

Syrinx refused his pleas and ran through trackless country until she reached the quiet stream of sandy Ladon, in Arcadia. The water stopped her from going further, and she begged her sisters of the water to change her (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.701–704). It was these water nymphs who changed her.

The Reeds and the Pipes

When Pan thought he had caught her, he was holding marsh reeds instead of the nymph’s body (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.705–706). As he sighed, the wind stirring in the reeds made a thin sound like a lament. Struck by this new art and the sweetness of the voice, Pan said, “This union with you shall remain mine.” He then joined reeds of unequal length together with wax, and the instrument kept the girl’s name (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.707–712).

This is why the Greek word syrinx means the pipe made of several reeds. Vergil likewise says that Pan was the first to join several reeds with wax (Vergil, Eclogues 2.32–33), and the instrument became his mark. Nonnus recalls the same story: Syrinx scorned love for the sake of her virginity, fled from Pan, was turned into a reedy plant, and still sings of Pan’s desire (Nonnus, Dionysiaca 42).

Syrinx Sources

Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.689–712 (within the story of Io and Argus, Metamorphoses 1.668–723); Vergil, Eclogues 2.32–33; Nonnus, Dionysiaca 42.

See Also: Pan, Artemis, Hermes, Argus, Io