So...every time you panic, you're invoking a Greek god. Pan was believed to cause sudden, irrational fear in travelers crossing lonely places and forests. The ancient Greeks named the feeling after him — panikon deima, the terror of Pan. Two thousand years of supernatural forest dread, collapsed into a word we use for missing a train. Used today for any sudden overwhelming fear or loss of control: "don't panic, we still have time." What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever panicked about?