The Great God Pan is a
novella written by
Arthur Machen. A version of the story was published in the magazine
The Whirlwind in
1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication (together with another story, "The Inmost Light") in 1894. On publication it was widely denounced by the press as degenerate and horrific because of its decadent style and sexual content, although it has since garnered a reputation as a classic of horror. Machen’s story was only one of many at the time to focus on the Greek God
Pan as a useful symbol for the power of nature and paganism. The title was possibly inspired by the poem "A Musical Instrument" published in 1862 by
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in which the first line of every stanza ends "... the great god Pan."