Daphnis and Chloe

Panpipes appear in the novel as a multifaceted symbol. One of the associations with panpipes is with the gods. At the beginning of the novel, panpipes are left as an offering to the nymphs in the cave in which the infant Chloe is discovered: “offerings were laid up in the cave, milk-pails and flutes and pan-pipes, dedicated to the Nymphs” (6). Panpipes were deemed a worthy offering to the nature deities and considered a significant part of rural culture in ancient Greece. The novel also includes a retelling of the instrument’s mythological origin story, in which the god Pan falls in love with Syrinx, “a beautiful girl with a tuneful voice” (41). Syrinx flees Pan’s attentions and hides in the reeds, where she sinks into the swamp. Pan makes the reeds into musical pipes in Syrinx’s memory. The inclusion of the origin story reaffirms the instrument’s connection with its namesake, Pan, and relates it to a tale of love suitable for a romance novel.

Later in the novel, Pan rescues Chloe from the Methymnaeans, using his panpipes to make a sound that “did not delight the listeners as pipes should […] but terrified them like a trumpet blast” (37). As soon as the Methymnaeans release Chloe, Pan’s music becomes a “ravishing sound” (39), enchanting the captured animals to follow Chloe ashore. Here, panpipes are a powerful tool of the god, enabling him to terrify men into submission and bend animals to his will. The music of the panpipes is also a powerful force in itself. Chloe rescues Daphnis from pirates by playing Dorcon’s pipes to call to the stolen cattle on the pirate’s ship, using the music to control them and causing the ship to overturn. Daphnis and Chloe’s animals have also been trained to respond to “the spell of the pan-pipes” (17), suggesting that the melody of the instrument possesses its own special magic.

In one scene, the panpipes also appear as an erotic symbol. At the start of the novel, when Daphnis is beginning desire Chloe, he teaches her how to play panpipes as an excuse to be near her. When Chloe tries to play the pipes, Daphnis “would snatch them away and run his own lips over the reeds […] he pretended to be correcting her mistakes, but he was really using the pipes as a way of kissing Chloe without doing anything unseemly” (18). Too shy to act on his feelings and kiss Chloe, the young Daphnis uses the instrument as an intermediary between his mouth and hers. This is a physical, erotic manifestation of the way music can be played passionately and sensually to evoke emotion.

For males, panpipes are also an identity marker. Changing from the use of smaller pipes to a large set of pipes signifies a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood. While celebrating Chloe’s release from the Methymnaeans, Philetas tries to play Daphnis’s panpipes, but the pipes are “too small for Philetas’ great technique, because they were intended for blowing by a boy’s mouth” (41). Later Daphnis “picked up the great pipes of Philetas and blew a strain that mopes, as if he sickened for love” (42). Daphnis continues the tune, conjuring a range of emotion from the audience and demonstrating excellent skill. Philetas is so impressed that he gives Daphnis his pipes and “pray[s] that Daphnis would bequeath them in turn to a worthy successor” (42). Daphnis’s receipt of the pipes symbolizes a transition into adulthood as well as indicating the handing down of tradition. When Daphnis discovers he is the son of Dionysophanes, he dedicates his pipes to Pan, marking the transition of his identity from simple goatherd to wealthy lord.