The myth of Syrinx was told by Mercury to Argos as a means of putting the many-eyed beast to sleep, in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Although Argos falls asleep long before the story is told, Ovid continues to tell the tale. As he tells it, Syrinx was a nymph who was loved by Pan, but who wanted nothing to do with him, since she wanted to be like Diana, the virgin goddess. When coming down from Mount Lysaeus, he saw Syrinx and began to chase the nymph. He had almost caught her when she reached the river Ladon, where she prayed to the nymphs and the god of the river. As she stepped into the water, she was transformed into reeds, at the same moment in which she was caught by Pan. It was from these reeds that he made his panpipe, which is also known as a syrinx.