Artemis receives hunting dogs from Pan

Artemis receives hunting dogs from Pan in Arcadia, a gift that gives concrete form to her chosen life as a huntress. The exchange joins divine kinship to practical training: Artemis asks her cousin Pan for the best of his hounds, explains that the gift was one of the six wishes she had made of Zeus, and receives his blessing along with ten dogs. Their first trial establishes the character of the partnership: the hounds pursue deer and bring them back unharmed, and Artemis selects two deer to draw her chariot.

Setting and Participants

The meeting takes place in the rugged countryside of Arcadia, where Pan lives among the mountain meadows and forests. Artemis recognizes him as her cousin. Pan is described with the horns, legs, and tail of a goat, as well as a thick beard, snub nose, and pointed ears; he carries a reed pipe and is feeding his hounds when Artemis arrives. The scene presents the dogs not as an abstract prize but as part of Pan’s own woodland domain and daily care.

Pan’s voice is said to be so sharp that hearing it brings melancholy and pain to mortals and gods. When he turns to greet Artemis, she covers her ears. This brief comic detail contrasts with the serious purpose of her visit: she has come to secure the animals she needs for the demanding identity she intends to claim.

Artemis’s Request and Pan’s Consent

Artemis addresses Pan as the little king of the woods and mountains and asks him for some of his dogs, specifically the best ones. She explains that she asked Zeus for six wishes and included Pan’s hounds among them. Her stated aim is to become the mightiest hunter; she wants to make the wild her home and asks Pan not only for his animals but also for his blessing.

Pan first wonders why someone so young and lovely would want a pack of massive beasts. He recalls that Artemis was a toddler when he last saw her among the immortals and recognizes how quickly she has grown. After considering her request, he explains that Zeus had warned him she might come. Pan’s admiration for Leto and respect for Zeus help shape his decision: he blesses Artemis as lady of the mountains and forest and agrees to give her the hounds if she truly intends to become the greatest hunter.

The Gift and Its Working Qualities

Pan invites Artemis to choose. The pack includes three huge black-and-white hounds capable of catching a live lion and dragging it back to a hunter, as well as lean white deerhounds, each swift enough to outrun a stag. Artemis chooses eagerly, naming dogs one by one; when Pan points out that the largest is female, Artemis insists that she wants her too. The exchange makes her choice deliberate rather than a passive acceptance of whatever Pan offers.

In the end, Pan gives Artemis his ten best dogs. Their different builds and capacities suggest a pack suited to more than one kind of chase: the larger hounds can seize formidable prey, while the white deerhounds excel at speed. The gift therefore equips Artemis with a working hunting party, not merely a symbolic token of approval.

First Trial and Narrative Significance

Eager to test her new gifts, Artemis sends the white hounds after two deer and tells them to bring the animals back unharmed. They obey, pursuing the deer she has chosen and returning them to their mistress. Artemis decides that these are her favorite kind of dog and plans to harness two deer to her chariot. Pan recognizes the result as evidence that she has already mastered the art of the chase and wishes her success in her hunts.

The first outing establishes an important measure of Artemis’s hunting practice: command over the chase includes restraint, since the dogs are directed to return their quarry unharmed. The scene also links Pan’s blessing to demonstrated competence. Artemis’s wish becomes an actual relationship between huntress, hounds, and deer, while her choice of deer for the chariot extends the gift into the equipment and movement of her future pursuits. She thanks Pan with a kiss on his cheek, closing the encounter with affection between cousins and the fulfillment of her first request.