Greek Gods that Got the Cold Shoulder

Why mince words? The gods of Greek mythology were sex maniacs-except for the three goddesses of chastity (Athena, Artemis, and Hestia) and their retinues of virginal nymphs. It makes sense that being immortal and having super powers would make a guy irresistible to women. It mostly did. But this article is about the exceptions, namely, those extraordinary ladies that dared scorn the advances of their overindulged pursuers and defiantly exclaim: "I'd rather be dead (or a plant) than succumb to you!".

Here are some of the most famous romantic (or not so romantic...) brush-offs in Greek mythology:

Hephaestus (Vulcan to the Romans), the Greek god of fire and metallurgy, was the embodiment of the cold-shouldered male. He wasn't to blame, really: He was born deformed and lame in both legs and wasn't all that easy on the eye. His marriage to Aphrodite (of all goddesses!) was an arranged and unhappy affair. (Yes, she cheated on him. Serially.) However, the most famous cold shoulder he ever got was from Athena, goddess of virginity (Athena Parthenos, i.e. Virgin Athena, hence the Parthenon). At first, Athena turned him down civilly enough because, well, he didn't fit her idea of what a consort should look like. It does no credit to Hephaestus' mental prowess that he next attempted to rape Athena. The details are probably too lurid to mention. Let's just say that the (wishful) union was never consummated. (Did I mention that Athena was also goddess of warfare?)

Apollo (Phoebus to the Romans), the Greek god of light, music, archery, and prophecy couldn't have been more unlike Hephaestus. Apollo had the gift of eternal youth and was endowed with compelling attractiveness, a great body, big eyes, curly hair (feel free to stop me anytime)-but apparently he was not immune to cold-shouldering:

Chased by Apollo, the river nymph Daphne (her name means "laurel" in Greek) entreated Mother Earth to save her. Her prayers were not in vain. Just as Apollo was about to catch her, Daphne transformed into a laurel tree, thenceforth sacred to Apollo.

Fleeing from Apollo, the nymph Castalia jumped into a sacred spring (hence the Castalian Spring) at Delphi. The waters of the Castalian Spring were said to impart poetic inspiration.

And then there was Cassandra, daughter to King Priam of Troy. As a seduction technique, Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy. She got the gift, but gave him the cold shoulder all the same. Infuriated, Apollo turned the gift into a curse: Cassandra would still be able to predict the future, but no one would ever believe her.

Pan (Faunus to the Romans), a Greek rural god of flocks, rustic music, and fertility, was the antipode to Apollo's beauty and grace. Pan was half-man and half-goat, with an ugly face, shaggy hair, and goat horns. Just picture a loud, loutish, lecherous, and irredeemably priapic version of Mr. Tumnus the faun, and you get the idea. (OK, now I went and ruined The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for you...) Astonishingly, Pan was famous for his sexual appetite, and his countless conquests included shepherds, all the Maenads (well, they were drunk all the time), and some nymphs-but not all nymphs. Some nymphs dared give Pan the cold shoulder:

The nymph Syrinx eluded Pan's sexual advances by running to a river and asking the river nymphs for help. They obliged, and she was immediately transformed into water reeds. Pan used some of these reeds to make a syrinx, i.e. a pan pipe.

The mountain nymph Pitys (her name means "pine tree" in Greek) escaped Pan by turning into (did you guess?) a pine tree.

Another mountain nymph, Echo, also caught Pan's roving eye, and like Syrinx and Pitys before her, didn't want to have anything to do with him. Pan did not take kindly to brush-offs: He ordered his manic followers to tear the hapless nymph apart and scatter her pieces all over the countryside. All that remained of Echo was her voice, forever doomed to echo the speech of others.

No wonder the word panic (= panic fear < panikon deima, where panikon = of Pan) originated with this god of frenzy and terror.

Sources:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology
http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/europe/greek/articles.html