Paean
Paean (also Paieon, Paeon or Paion) was the physician of the gods in Greek mythology. In Homer he heals the wounded gods on Olympus, and his name also became the word for a song of thanksgiving and healing sung especially to Apollo, who was himself invoked as Paean.
Paean in Homer
Paean is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad, when the god of war, Ares, was wounded by the hero Diomedes. Ares went to Mount Olympus, where Zeus bade Paean to heal him; Paean spread soothing drugs on the wound and the god was healed (Homer, Iliad 5.899–904).
Paean also treated Hades. In the same book of the Iliad, Dione recalls how Heracles shot Hades with an arrow at Pylos, among the dead; Hades went in pain to the house of Zeus on Olympus with the arrow in his shoulder, and Paean, spreading pain-killing drugs on the wound, healed him, for Hades was not mortal (Homer, Iliad 5.395–402).
In the Odyssey, the physicians of Egypt are said to be the most skilled of all men in medicine because “they are of the race of Paieon” (Homer, Odyssey 4.227–232).
Family of Paean
- Siblings
- Aetolus, Epeius
The Paean as a Song
In Greek the word paian (paean) was also the name of a song, and the two senses are connected in the texts. In the Iliad, after the plague sent by Apollo, the youths of the Achaeans sang a beautiful paean to the god all day to appease him (Iliad 1.472–474), and after the death of Hector Achilles calls on the Achaeans to go back to the ships singing a paean (Iliad 22.391–394).
Paean and Apollo
In later poetry the name Paian is also used as a title of Apollo, and the cry “ie paian” belongs to his worship. In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, Apollo leads Cretan sailors to Pytho and tells them to chant “ie paieon” as they go to his temple; the Cretans did so, as the Cretan singers of paeans do (Homeric Hymn to Apollo 500–519). In Aeschylus’ Agamemnon the chorus calls on “Paian the healer” (Aeschylus, Agamemnon 146), and Cicero says that in the temple of Asclepius (Aesculapius) at Syracuse stood a statue of Paean, which people went to see and worshipped, and that Paean was worshipped there together with Asclepius (Cicero, Against Verres, Book 4).
Paean Sources
Homer, Iliad 1.472–474, 5.395–402, 5.899–904, 22.391–394; Homer, Odyssey 4.227–232; Homeric Hymn to Apollo 500–519; Aeschylus, Agamemnon 146; Cicero, Against Verres, Book 4.
See Also: Ares, Hades, Apollo, Asclepius
What the ancient sources say
Passages that name Paean, in the original with English translation. The line gives the work and reference as scholars cite it.
- Callimachus, Hymns 2.1–113Hymn to ApolloThe laurel and the temple tremble as Apollo approaches, and the profane are told to depart while the young men prepare to sing and dance. The poet praises…
- Homer, Iliad 5.793–909Diomedes wounds AresAthena finds Diomedes cooling the wound the arrow made, rebukes him, and takes Sthenelus' place in his car, putting on the helm of Hades. They go against…
- Homer, Iliad 11.284–400Hector's advance; Diomedes is woundedHector takes up the fight and kills many Danaans, until Odysseus and Diomedes stand against him. Diomedes' spear strikes Hector's helmet and Hector falls to…
- Euripides, Alcestis 213–279First choral song; Alcestis comes out to dieThe Chorus prays to Apollo as Paean to save Admetus, and then sees Alcestis come out of the house, supported by her husband. Alcestis speaks to the sun and…
- Aristophanes, The Acharnians 1143–1234Exodos: Lamachus wounded, Dicaeopolis victoriousThe Chorus wish the two men well on their different errands and call down two woes on Antimachus. A servant of Lamachus calls for water and bandages, for…
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.1.1–11Elis: the early kings, Endymion, Pelops, Aetolus and AugeasPausanias opens the book on Elis with the five-fold division of Peloponnese and the peoples that settled it. He gives the line of the early Elean kings from…
- Plutarch, Life of Theseus 19.1–21.2Theseus and the Minotaur; the stories of Ariadne; the Crane dance on DelosMost writers say that Ariadne gave Theseus the thread, with which he found his way through the Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur and sailed off with Ariadne…
- Strabo, Geography 9.3.9–12Delphi: Neoptolemus, the Python and the Pythian gamesStrabo tells of the early shrines at Delphi, the tomb of Neoptolemus and his killing by Machaereus. He describes the musical contest and the Pythian games…
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