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{{Short description|Song or poem expressing triumph or gratitude}}
{{About| the song form| | Paean (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Peon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}

A '''paean''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|iː|ə|n|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Paean.wav}}) is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In [[classical antiquity]], it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice ([[monody]]). It comes from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|παιάν}} (also {{lang|grc|παιήων}} or {{lang|grc|παιών}}), "song of triumph, any solemn song or chant". "Paeon" was also the name of a divine physician and an [[epithet]] ("byname") of [[Apollo]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D*paia%2Fn Paean], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''[[A Greek–English Lexicon]]'', at Perseus</ref>

==Etymology==
The basis of the word παιάν is {{lang|grc|*παιάϝων}}."<ref name='Linear B'/> Its ultimate etymology is unclear. [[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]] has suggested the meaning "who heals illnesses through magic", from {{lang|grc|*παῖϝα}}/{{lang|grc|*παϝία}} "blow", related to {{lang|grc|παίω}} "beat" (from [[Proto-Indo-European]] ''*ph<sub>2</sub>u-ie/o-'') or {{lang|grc|παύω}} "withhold" (of uncertain etymology). He alternatively suggested that ''paian'' "may well be [[Pre-Greek]]".<ref name = 'Beekes'>[[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]], ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 1142 (see also pp. 1144 and 1159).</ref>

==Ancient Greek paean==
In [[Homer]], [[Paeon (god)|Paeon]]<ref name='Linear B'>[[Mycenaean Greek]] {{lang|gmy|𐀞𐀊𐀺𐀚}}, ''pa-ja-wo-ne'' /pajāwonei/ ([[Dative case|dat.]]), written in [[Linear B]] and attested on the [[Knossos|KN]] V 52 tablet found at [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] Knossos, attests the name as referring to an individual Mycenaean deity. See [[John Chadwick]], ''The Mycenaean World'' [Cambridge University Press] 1976, p. 88).</ref> was the [[Greek mythology|Greek]] physician of the gods. In ''[[Iliad]]'' V he heals the wounded [[Ares]] and [[Hades]] with his [[Herbal medicine|herbal lore]]. In time Paeon (or Paean) became an [[epithet]] ("byname") of [[Apollo]] as a god capable of bringing disease and propitiated as a god of healing. [[Hesiod]] identifies Paeon as a separate god, and in later poetry Paeon is invoked independently as a [[health]] god. Later, ''Paean'' becomes a byname of [[Asclepius]], another healer-god.<ref>[[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] on Homer §1494; [[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' vii. 769.</ref>

The earliest appearances of a ''paean'' or [[hymn]] of thanksgiving also appear in the ''Iliad''. After the prayer to avert evil from the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]], a paean is sung. In an almost identical line (X.391) that suggests a formulaic expression, [[Achilles]] tells the [[Myrmidons]] to sing the paean after the death of [[Hector]].<ref>Both occasions are noted by [[Grace Macurdy]], "The Derivation of the Greek Word Paean" ''Language'' 6, no. 4 (December 1930: 297-303), citation on 300.</ref>

Previously, L. R. Farnell<ref>[[Lewis Richard Farnell|Farnell]], ''The Cults of the Greek States'' (Oxford University Press, 1896){{Page needed|date=December 2010}}.</ref> had referred to the ancient association between the healing craft and the singing of spells, but found it impossible to decide which was the original sense. At all events the meaning of "healer" gradually gave place to that of "[[hymn]]", from the phrase "{{lang|grc|Ἰὴ Παιάν}}" or "{{lang|grc|Ἰὼ Παιάν}}".

Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo, and afterwards to other gods, like [[Dionysus]], [[Helios]], and [[Asclepius]]. About the 4th century the paean became merely a formula of [[Flattery|adulation]]; its object was either to implore protection against [[disease]] and misfortune, or to offer thanks after such protection had been rendered. Its connection with Apollo as the slayer of the [[Python (mythology)|Python]] led to its association with battle and victory; hence it became the custom for a paean to be sung by an army on the march and before entering into battle, when a fleet left the harbour, and also after a victory had been won.

The Greek poet [[Aeschylus]] who took part in the [[Battle of Salamis]], commented on the power of the paean over enemies (in this case the [[Persian Empire|Persians]]):
<blockquote> All the barbarians felt fear because they had been deprived of what they expected. The Greeks were singing the stately paean at that time not for flight, but because they were hastening into battle and were [[wiktionary:stout|stout]] of heart.<ref>Barry Strauss, ''The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece—and Western Civilization'' (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004), p. 160</ref></blockquote>

A paean was sung before the resuming of the naval battle between the Corcyraeans and Corinthians in a war leading up to the [[Peloponnesian War]], implying that it might have been a common practice.<ref>Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War. Translated by Rex Warner, Penguin Books LTD, p. 65</ref> In addition, the paean is said to have been sung just before the start of various battles (including the [[Battle of Cunaxa]]) in Xenophon's [[Anabasis (Xenophon)|"Anabasis"]] (or "Persian Expedition").<ref>Xenophon, The Persian Expedition. Translated by Rex Warner, Penguin Books LTD. Pg. 49</ref>

==In Greek poetry and music==
The most famous paeans are those of [[Bacchylides]] and [[Pindar]]. Paeans were sung at the festivals of Apollo (especially the [[Hyacinthia]]), at banquets, and later even at public [[funeral]]s. In later times they were addressed not only to the gods, but to [[human|human beings]]. In this manner the [[Rhodes|Rhodians]] celebrated [[Ptolemy I of Egypt]], the [[Samians]] [[Lysander]] of [[Sparta]], the [[Athens|Athenians]] [[Demetrius]], the [[Delphi]]ans [[Craterus]] of [[Macedon]].

Musically, the paean was a choral ode, and originally had an [[antiphon]]al character, in which a leader sang in a [[monody|monodic]] style, with the chorus responding with a simple, informal phrase; however, later in its development, the paean was an entirely choral form. Typically the paean was in the [[Dorian mode]] (note that the Ancient Greek Dorian was different from the modern Dorian mode; see [[musical mode]]),{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}<!--Who claims this? Neither of the two most-nearly complete surviving examples, the Delphic Hymns, have even one short section in Dorian. The first is in Phrygian and Hyperphrygian, the second in Lydian, Hypolydian, and Chromatic Lydian.--> and was accompanied by the [[kithara]], which was Apollo's instrument. Paeans meant to be sung on the battlefield were accompanied by [[aulos]] and kithara.

Two [[Delphic Hymns|musical fragments of paeans]] survive from late antiquity: one by [[Athenaeus (musician)|Athénaios Athenaíou]]" (Athenaios son of Athenaios), the other by [[Limenius|Limenius of Athens]]. The fragment by Limenius has been dated to 128 BC; the one by Athenaios may have been composed in the same year, or ten years earlier.<ref>[[Annie Bélis]] (ed.). 1992. ''Corpus des inscriptions de Delphes'', vol. 3: "Les Hymnes à Apollon" (Paris: De Boccard, 1992), 48–49, 53–54; Egert Pöhlmann and Martin L. West, ''Documents of Ancient Greek Music: The Extant Melodies and Fragments'', edited and transcribed with commentary by Egert Pöhlmann and Martin L. West (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001), 71.</ref>

==Modern usage==
Paean is now usually used to mean an expression of praise or exultation (such as its coining in the redundant expression "paeans of praise"). A song called "Paean" was used in a Chinese propaganda film called ''[[The East Is Red (1965 film)|The East Is Red]]''. 
===USS ''Pueblo'' confession===
After being captured by [[North Korea]] in 1968, the commander of [[USS Pueblo (AGER-2)|USS ''Pueblo'']], [[Lloyd M. Bucher]], used "paean" (read 'pee on', i.e. [[Urine|urinate]] on) as a code that his confession was forced. Under threat of death, Bucher agreed to "confess to his and the crew's transgression" in his own hand, and included the phrase "We paean the [[DPRK]] [North Korea]. We paean their great leader Kim Il Sung".<ref name="Pearlman">{{cite news|last=Pearlman|first=Gary|url=http://www.thepalmbeachtimes.com/Pages/Korea.php|title=End of North Korea?|work=[[The Palm Beach Times]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304142602/http://www.thepalmbeachtimes.com/Pages/Korea.php|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*''Parts of this entry are originally from the [[1911 Encyclopædia Britannica]].''

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}

*[http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Paion.html Theoi Project - Paion]
*[http://www.attalus.org/poetry/paeans.html Greek paeans in English translation]

[[Category:Ancient Greek triumphal hymns]]
[[Category:Battle of Salamis]]
[[Category:Epithets of Asclepius]]
[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Mythological Greek physicians]]