'Panic' is named after the god Pan — Greeks blamed sudden, irrational terror in the wild on the goat-legged god.
A sudden, overwhelming feeling of intense fear or anxiety, especially one affecting a whole group of people simultaneously.
From French 'panique,' from Greek 'πανικός' (panikos, 'of or relating to the god Pan'). In Greek mythology, Pan — the god of wild places, shepherds, and flocks — was believed to cause sudden, inexplicable terror in travelers, especially in remote mountain passes and lonely woodland. This irrational terror, striking without visible cause, was called 'panikon deima' (panic fear
The god Pan was said to have caused the Persians to flee at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE by filling them with groundless terror. The Athenians were so grateful they built Pan a shrine on the Acropolis. Every modern 'panic' — from stock market crashes to crowd stampedes — is named after this goat-legged god's signature weapon: inexplicable mass fear.