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'Panic' comes from Greek panikos, 'of Pan'. Pan was the goat-legged god of shepherds, flocks and wild places, and the Greeks blamed him for the sudden, groundless fear that could sweep through a herd, a crowd or a lone traveller.

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Pan's home was Arcadia, the mountainous heart of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. Stories said he hated being woken from his afternoon nap, and that his angry shout could send anyone nearby running in terror. The Greeks also gave him credit in war: after the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, the Athenians believed Pan had taken their side and struck panic into the Persian army, and they honoured him with a shrine on the slopes of the Acropolis. The word travelled through French panique and reached English around 1600, first as an adjective in phrases such as 'panic fear', and only in the 18th century as a noun for sudden mass terror. Turkish panik also came from French.

Türkçe oku
“Panik” sözcüğü, Yunancada “Pan'a ait” anlamına gelen panikos'tan gelir. Pan, çobanların, sürülerin ve ıssız kırların keçi bacaklı tanrısıydı. Yunanlılar bir sürüyü, bir kalabalığı ya da yalnız bir yolcuyu birden saran nedensiz korkunun ondan geldiğine inanırdı.

Pan'ın yurdu, Yunanistan'ın güneyindeki Mora Yarımadası'nın dağlık iç kesimi Arkadya'ydı. Anlatılara göre öğle uykusundan uyandırılmaktan nefret eder, öfkeyle attığı çığlık çevredeki herkesi dehşet içinde kaçırırdı. Savaşta da onun eli olduğuna inanılırdı: MÖ 490'daki Maraton Savaşı'ndan sonra Atinalılar, Pan'ın kendi yanlarında durup Pers ordusunu paniğe sürüklediğine inandı ve Akropolis'in yamacında ona bir kutsal alan ayırdı. Sözcük Fransızcadaki panique üzerinden yayıldı. İngilizceye 1600 dolaylarında önce “panic fear” (panik korku) gibi tamlamalarda sıfat olarak girdi; ani ve toplu dehşet anlamında bir ad olarak ancak 18. yüzyılda yerleşti. Türkçedeki panik de Fransızcadan gelir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Panic
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