Greek mythology

Modern Analysis

So, you remember that the ancient Greeks pictured the ocean as a Person -- Poseidon. They pictured the heavens as a Person -- Zeus. They pictured life in manifold forms as a Person -- Proteus. And they pictured all Nature as the Person -- Pan. But, what do you suppose Pan means? It means ALL -- Everything. It was because in earliest times they knew Life to be in everything, each form of Life having its own kind of knowledge, or intelligence, that they felt more at one with all Nature. They knew they had all the powers that were in the sea and sky, in the mineral and vegetable and animal world. Their gods were the intelligent powers of Nature; but they also knew that all these powers came from the One Life, the One Power, the One Spirit.