The Return of the Horned God

Until the nineteenth century, the favourite ancient pagan gods in Western culture were those related to human qualities and activities. During that century, especially in Britain, attention switched to a horned divinity associated with the countryside and wild nature, often personified as the Greek Pan.

This lecture explores how and why this happened, and the impact on British culture, when the full subversive potential of this deity as a force for personal liberation became realised. It also shows how the image subsequently evolved from a classical god into an archetype.