Satyrs and Silens

Pronunciation

Appearance and Abilities

Satyrs and silens were hybrid creatures, half-human and half-beast. Along with the Maenads, they belonged to the entourage (or thiasos) of Dionysus, the Olympian god of wine and intoxication. They were usually regarded as woodland creatures (similar to Maenads, nymphs, and Centaurs).

Satyrs and silens were typically imagined with the ears, tail, and occasionally legs and coat of a horse (or goat). They tended to be bald or balding, with a snub nose, and were usually depicted naked so as to display a large erect penis (satyrs and silens were always male). It is possible that they were immortal, though a few myths describe them dying or being killed.^[6]

It is unclear what the distinction was between satyrs and silens, or if a meaningful distinction even existed.

Satyrs and silens were rarely mentioned in the earliest Greek literature. The few descriptions we have portray them as wild and lustful: in the fifth Homeric Hymn, for example (the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite), the silens make love to the nymphs who live in the mountains.^[7] They were thus similar to the half-horse Centaurs, also described as insatiably lustful creatures. Unlike the Centaurs, however, satyrs and silens were not particularly violent or dangerous—rather, they were usually seen as amusing, fun-loving, and even a bit cowardly.

Satyrs and silens became more popular around the middle of the fifth century BCE, with the emergence of the “satyr play.” These plays, like tragedies, usually dramatized a mythological story, but with a chorus of satyrs who turned the whole affair into a kind of burlesque. 

In a satyr play, the chorus of satyrs is led by their father, Silenus (or Papposilenus), suggesting that satyrs and silens were largely interchangeable. Some later writers, likely influenced by this depiction of Silenus, wrote that the oldest of the satyrs were called silens, or that the satyrs were the offspring of the older silens.^[8]

Iconography

Most of what we know about how satyrs and silens were imagined in antiquity comes from the visual arts. These creatures became important subjects for artists around the early sixth century BCE. Though they were almost always represented with the ears and tail of a horse, other details of their appearance changed over time. For example, they were originally shown with either horse legs or human legs, but by the end of the sixth century BCE the human-legged type had become more common.

It is possible that the horse-legged type were silens, while the human-legged ones were satyrs. But as time went on, the two races became interchangeable. Silenus himself—the silens’ mythical namesake—was often represented as human-legged.^[9] After 450 BCE, it became more and more common to show them with goat features—including a goat’s tail, ears, hind legs, and sometimes even horns—instead of horse features. This made them similar in appearance to Pan.

From the sixth century BCE onwards, satyrs and silens were commonly shown participating in the Dionysian revel (the komos)—drinking wine, playing the flute, dancing, and performing acrobatics—or pursuing nymphs or Maenads. Occasionally, they were depicted collecting grapes and making wine. Their attributes (wineskins, flutes) complemented these activities.

Originally, satyrs and silens were only represented in connection with a few mythical tales (mainly Hephaestus’ return to Olympus and the Gigantomachy). But in the fifth century BCE, as the satyr play became more popular, their role expanded; they appeared in a greater variety of scenes, especially those involving Heracles.

The Romans inherited the satyrs and silens from the Greeks. Sculptures of these creatures were very popular in Roman villas and gardens, where they symbolized luxury and leisure. Satyrs and silens also frequented Roman reliefs, punch bowls, and sarcophagi. Occasionally—though not as often as one might expect—the Romans equated satyrs and silens with the fauns of Italian mythology.^[10]

Origins

Satyrs and silens entered the Greek imagination relatively late, around the end of the seventh century BCE or the beginning of the sixth century BCE. 

There are similarities between the satyrs and silens of the Greeks and creatures from other Indo-European mythologies, such as various kinds of elves and goblins; for instance, we might compare the satyrs and silens to the Celtic Drusii, goblins who also had a penchant for seducing women. It is possible that all of these creatures shared a common Indo-European origin.^[25]

Similar creatures, such as the Semitic goat-demons sometimes known in Hebrew as Se’īrīm, also seem to have existed in the ancient Near East.^[26]

The Satyrs and Silens with their God

In literature as in art, satyrs and silens were often found in the company of Dionysus and played an important role in his wild band of revelers (the thiasos).

Satyrs and silens often accompanied Dionysus on his adventures. For example, Nonnus’ Dionysiaca, a long epic poem composed around the fifth century CE, tells of how Dionysus fought a war against the Indians with an army made up largely of satyrs and silens.^[27]

In many traditions, Dionysus was raised with or by the satyrs and silens. Silenus, the oldest and wisest of these creatures, was the tutor of the young Dionysus. In one myth, the Phrygian king Midas longed for Silenus’ wisdom and captured him (perhaps by lacing Silenus’ fountain with wine). But Silenus’ hard-won advice was remarkably pessimistic: he told Midas that the best thing for mortals was not to be born at all, while the second best was to die as soon as possible.^[28] 

In another story, Dionysus’ first love was the handsome satyr Ampelus. But Ampelus died tragically (either by falling from a great height or by being gored by a bull). From his blood, however, there emerged the first vine. The heartbroken Dionysus named the new creation after his beloved Ampelus. Soon after, he invented wine by plucking the grapes from the vine and using them to make a fermented liquid.^[29]

One myth claimed that the satyrs and silens came to help Dionysus when Olympus was attacked by the brutal Giants. As they rode in on their donkeys, the satyrs and silens inadvertently won the war for the gods: the Giants were so terrified when they heard the braying of the donkeys that they immediately ran away.^[30]

The Hubris of the Satyrs and the Silens

Sometimes, the wild and unrestrained nature of the satyrs and silens got them into trouble. The gods, who were not especially forgiving even on their best days, did not hesitate to punish or kill satyrs and silens who upset them.

In one myth, the Danaid Amymone was in the woods looking for water when she accidentally disturbed a sleeping satyr. The satyr sprang up and tried to have sex with her. Amymone fled, with the satyr in hot pursuit. But Poseidon showed up, drove the satyr away, and then slept with Amymone himself.^[31]

One famous myth told of how another satyr, Marsyas, brought about his own destruction when he challenged Apollo to a music contest. Marsyas had discovered panpipes when the instrument was invented and subsequently discarded by Athena. He quickly became a virtuoso and was certain that his instrument was superior to all others—even the lyre of Apollo.

Before their contest, Marsyas and Apollo agreed that whoever won could do what he wanted with the other. At first, Marsyas proved an even match for the great Apollo. But Apollo decided to play his lyre upside down and challenged Marsyas to do the same. Marsyas, of course, could not complete the task, and Apollo was judged the winner.

Apollo punished Marsyas cruelly for his hubris in challenging a god: he tied him to a tree and flayed him alive. Ovid renders Marsyas’ suffering in all its gory detail:

Even as he shrieked out in his agony,

his living skin was ripped off from his limbs,

till his whole body was a flaming wound,

with nerves and veins and viscera exposed.

But all the weeping people of that land,

and all the Fauns and Sylvan Deities,

and all the satyrs, and Olympus, his

loved pupil—even then renowned in song,

and all the Nymphs, lamented his sad fate;

and all the shepherds, roaming on the hills,

lamented as they tended fleecy flocks.^[32]

The tears shed by Marsyas’ friends created the River Marsyas, a tributary of the Meander in Phrygia.^[33]