|
"Pan loved his neighbour Echo; Echo loved a frisking Satyr; and Satyr,
he was head over ears for Lyde. As Echo was Pan's flame, so was Satyr Echo's, and Lyde master Satyr's. It was
love reciprocal; for by just course, even as each
of those hearts did scorn its lover, so was it also
scorned being such a lover itself. To all such as
be heartwhole be this lesson read: If you would be
loved where you be loving, then love them that love
you." [Moschus 5]
|
|
SATYRS are called the attendants of
Dionysus 2: great
lovers of wine and
NYMPHS. Along with the
MAENADS they form the
train of the god, dancing and singing.
|
|
|
|
|
Outraging islanders taken for SATYRS
|
Some have said that the SATYRS were not the
attendants of Dionysus
2, the god of the vine, but red-haired savages
living on certain islands of the Mediterranean sea.
Sailors have described them with tails upon their
flanks almost as long as those of horses. They said
that when these SATYRS caught sight of visitors
coming to their island, they ran down to the ship,
crying aloud, and coming on board they started to
assault the women in the ship.
|
|
How they are usually described
|
But this is not what is usually told of the
SATYRS, for when fancy sailor-tales are not
involved, they are the followers of the god of the
vine, who is the god of laughter, and are great
lovers of festivals, revels, drinking, dancing,
singing, and also many kinds of wild behaviour, for
they have been accused of assaulting
NYMPHS, and of stealing
cattle, although these things have been also done
by others who were not SATYRS. In any case, the
SATYRS are known for having made
Dionysus 2 happy.
|
|
SATYRS in Ethiopia
|
Still others have said that the SATYRS lived in
Ethiopia, and had hair upon their loins, and that
they were taken along during an Egyptian campaign
in that country because they were talented in
dancing and singing, and no one understood better
than them the secrets of relaxation and pastime.
|
|
The Gauls resemble them
|
The Gauls were said to physically resemble the
SATYRS. For they washed their blond hair in
lime-water, and the treatment made it heavy and
coarse like the mane of horses, and then pulled it
back from the forehead to the top of the head, and
back to the nape of the neck.
|
|
Mortal race
|
The SATYRS are a mortal race, for some of their
graves, they say, have been seen in the land of the
Hebrews and at Pergamus. On the other hand, no one
ever seem to have doubted about their mortality,
since no one has said, for example, how
Marsyas, who is called a
Satyr, could have survived what
Apollo, in one of his
dark fits, did to him, a deed that the god himself
regretted.
|
|
Their asses won the battle
|
The SATYRS helped the
OLYMPIANS in their war
against the GIANTS. It is
told that they came riding on asses, and when these
beasts caught sight of the
GIANTS, they were
terrified letting out a braying such as the
GIANTS had never heard,
for which reason they took to flight and were
defeated by the gods.
|
|
Another war
|
Otherwise, as the SATYRS are the permanent
attendants of Dionysus
2, attracted as they are by that fresh nectar
called wine, they also
followed him when the god campaigned in India.
|
|
Device for permanent noise
|
And as Dionysus 2
is a lover of noise, cymbals were attached, for
example to his ship, so that even if the SATYRS
were overcome by wine and
fell asleep, the god would not be without merry
sounds on his voyage.
|
|
Party on the island
|
And they could come to Andros, the most
northerly of the Cyclades Islands, where led by the
god they would give themselves to the spirits of
Laughter and Revel, who are very fond of the
drinking-bout.
|
|
Often asleep
|
And not seldom are they seen asleep, for
dancing, singing, playing the flute, chasing
NYMPHS, and drinking
great quantities of wine
are, taken all together, exhausting activities. So
they often lie and sleep, breathing heavily as a
result of the wine.
|
|
Charming after all
|
The SATYRS are often depicted as hardy and
hot-blooded, having sometimes the tail of horses,
and being altogether mischievous. Yet they are also
charming, because of their dance and their
laughter, and being given to love, they are able to
subdue women by artful flatteries, despite the fact
that there is no trace of delicacy in their bodies
and their appearance is unkempt.
And if words would not suffice, they could
induce echoing responses in the
NYMPHS by the entrancing
music of the flute.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Astraeus 2.
Son of Silenus. Chief
of the SATYRS who came to join
Dionysus 2 in the
Indian War.
Nonn.14.99, 17.196.
|
|
Cissus.
Cissus turned into an ivy plant while he was
climbing with legs across the branches in a tree.
Cissus once contested in footrunning with Ampelus,
a young Phrygian loved by
Dionysus 2.
Nonn.10.400, 12.190.
|
|
Gemon.
One of the leaders of the SATYRS who joined the
army of Dionysus 2 in
his campaign against India.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Hypsicerus.
Same as above.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Iobacchus.
Nonn.11.5, 14.286.
|
|
Lamis.
One of the leaders of the SATYRS who joined the
army of Dionysus 2 in
his campaign against India.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Leneus.
Another Satyr who participated in the contest of
footrunning with Ampelus.
Nonn.10.400.
|
|
Lenobius.
One of the leaders of the SATYRS who joined the
army of Dionysus 2 in
his campaign against India.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Lycon 2.
Same as above.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Lycus 13.
This Satyr, who was also with
Dionysus 2 in his
Indian campaign, is said to be the son of
Hermes and Iphthime 2,
the daughter of Dorus 1, eponym of the Dorians and
son of Hellen 1, son of
Deucalion 1, the man
who survived the Flood.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Maron 2.
Son of Silenus and
charioteer of Dionysus
2.
Nonn.14.99, 15.141, 18.49, 42.20.
|
|
Marsyas.
|
|
|
Napaeus.
One of the leaders of the SATYRS who joined the
army of Dionysus 2 in
his campaign against India.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Oestrus.
Same as above.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Onthyrius.
This Satyr was killed by Tectaphus 2 during the
Indian War.
Tectaphus 2 had once been kept in prison by
Deriades, the king of India, and survived by
suckling the milk from his daughter's breast. The
name of his daughter was Eerie. Tectaphus 2 was
killed in battle by Eurymedon 5, son of
Hephaestus &
Cabiro. Eurymedon 5 is one of the CABIROI [see
CORYBANTES].
Nonn.30.137.
|
|
Orestes 5.
One of the leaders of the SATYRS who joined the
army of Dionysus 2 in
his campaign against India.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Petraeus 2.
Same as above.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Pherespondus.
Herald of Dionysus
2 during the Indian War and son of
Hermes & Iphthime 2
[brother of Lycus 13, see above].
Nonn.14.106ff., 18.313.
|
|
Phereus 2.
One of the leaders of the SATYRS who joined the
army of Dionysus 2 in
his campaign against India.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Phlegraeus 2.
Same as above.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Pithos 2.
Another Satyr killed by Tectaphus 2 [see
Onthyrius above].
Nonn.30.138.
|
|
Poemenius.
One of the leaders of the SATYRS who joined the
army of Dionysus 2 in
his campaign against India.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Pronomus 2.
Another son of Hermes
& Iphthime 2 [see Pherespondus above].
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Pylaieus.
Yet another Satyr killed by Tectaphus 2 [see
Onthyrius above].
Nonn.30.136.
|
|
Satyr.
Satyr is the father of Ampelus by a Nymph [see
Cissus above].
Ov.Fast.3.409.
|
|
Scirtus.
One of the leaders of the SATYRS who joined the
army of Dionysus 2 in
his campaign against India.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|
Silenus.
|
|
|
Thiasus.
One of the leaders of the SATYRS who joined the
army of Dionysus 2 in
his campaign against India.
Nonn.14.106ff.
|
|