The Crock of Gold is a comic novel written by Irish author James Stephens, first published in 1912. A mixture of philosophy, Irish folklore and the "battle of the sexes", it consists of six books, Book 1 - The Coming of Pan, Book 2 - The Philosopher's Journey, Book 3 - The Two Gods, Book 4 - The Philosopher's Return, Book 5 - The Policemen, Book 6 - The Thin Woman's Journey, that rotate around a philosopher and his quest to find the most beautiful woman in the world, Cáitilin Ni Murrachu, daughter of a remote mountain farm, and deliver her from the gods Pan and Aengus Óg, while himself going through a catharsis.