Fauns and Satyrs and the Rites of Spring

Pan is the god most associated with the flocks and the fields and so often with the approach of spring. Pan, as well as fauns and stayrs, are often associated with a natural sexual freedom. Pan is siad to have learned masturbation from his farther, Hermes, and then taught it to the other sheperds. The half-man, half-beast characteristics of these mythological figures include a natural bisexuality as well as a coercive nature. Satyrs and fauns are often depicted in a sexual pursuit or a seduction that includes opposite sex partners, same sex partners, and animals.