Rena Zoleski, age 15, of Springfield, I11., for her question:

WHO WAS PAN?

Pan was the ancient Greek god of shepherds, huntsmen and later of all nature. Woods, fields and flocks belonged to him. The Greeks thought Pan roamed the earth through mountains and valleys, playing gaily on his flute made of reeds.

Pan was pictured in Greek art with the legs and feet of a goat. His upper body and face were manlike, but he had a goat's horns and ears.

The ancient Greeks thought Pan had a mild, unpredictable nature. They also thought he had the power to fill human beings and animals with sudden, unreasoning terror. The word "panic" comes from his name.

One story tells how Pan made his flute of reeds. He had been pursuing a nymph named Syrinx. After a long chase, she came to a riverbank and could run no faster. Desperately she prayed for help. The goddess Artemis heard her prayer and changed her into a bundle of reeds.

Pan stood sadly looking at the reeds and sighing, when he heard a beautiful murmuring sound as the wind blew through them. Cutting seven of the reeds in different lengths, he fastened them into the first shepherd's pipe, or syrinx.