The Satyr’s Origin

The Satyr’s Origin

The satyr comes from Greek mythology; they were companions of the Greek god of wine and entertainment, Dionysus. There was no actual female of the species until “satyress” was invented by poets, seeking to make the ever lustful satyr a female companion. Satyr is the root of the word for satire, which generally means comedy. The satyr was generally depicted as a man with sometimes cloven feet, small or full horns of a goat, large, point ears and a constant erection. In mythology, they are usually associated with comedy, sex drive, mischief, and fertility; they roamed the woods and mountains. Usually, satyrs were quite busy preying on the various forest nymph; minor deities and children of a union between mortal men and women and gods. Satyrs were said to be obsessed with them and are often depicted in different mediums of art as copulating with them, or at least trying to.

There are very few satyr plays remaining intact; one full play was Cyclops, by Euripedes which features Silenus. He was the leader of the satyrs, a minor deity of fertility, and sometimes a companion to Dionysus. Satyrs also appear in the Greek play The Tracking Satyrs by Sophocles; however there are only fragments of it remaining. Satyr plays were widely beloved as the latter part of tragic trilogies, in which men would speak seriously about the subject matter; whereas at the end, there would be a separate play in which satyrs would carry on being obscene, and calling out rude, flippant remarks. Satyrs were originally depicted with a horse’s tail and ears, looking generally human except for these aspects. They were not attributed with goat like qualities until merging with the Roman deity of Faunus much later. Although different deities altogether, they both possessed the same light-hearted and carefree natures.