Record #122
Satyrs
Goat-legged wilderness spirits devoted to music, dance, and sensual excess.
Original Text
Satyrs was the Greek name for them; Rome called them Fauns, Pans, and Sylvans. In the lower part of the body they were goats; their torso, arms, and head were human. Satyrs were thickly covered with hair and had shorthorns, pointed ears, active eyes, and hooked noses. They were lascivious and fond of their wine. They attended Bacchus in his rollicking and bloodless conquest of India. They set ambushes for nymphs, relished dancing, and their instrument was the flute. Country people paid homage to them, offering them the first fruits of the harvest. Lambs were also sacrificed in their honour.
In Roman times, a specimen of these demigods was surprised asleep in his mountain den in Thessaly by some of Sulla’s soldiers, who brought him before their general. The Satyr uttered inarticulate sounds and was so loathsome to the eyes and nostrils that Sulla had him at once sent back to the wilderness.
A memory of the Satyrs lived on in the medieval image of devils. The word ‘satire’ seems to have no connection with satyr; most etymologists trace satire back to saturalanx, a composite dish, hence a mixed literary composition, like the writings of Juvenal.
In Roman times, a specimen of these demigods was surprised asleep in his mountain den in Thessaly by some of Sulla’s soldiers, who brought him before their general. The Satyr uttered inarticulate sounds and was so loathsome to the eyes and nostrils that Sulla had him at once sent back to the wilderness.
A memory of the Satyrs lived on in the medieval image of devils. The word ‘satire’ seems to have no connection with satyr; most etymologists trace satire back to saturalanx, a composite dish, hence a mixed literary composition, like the writings of Juvenal.