Satyrs

Rustic demons and attendants of the wine god Dionysos, shown as men with horses' (and later goats') tails, animal ears and coarse features. Archaic east Greek satyrs often have horses' legs or hoofs. They are often shown drunken or sexually aroused and pursue Maenads. They help Dionysos fight the Giants and are especially prominent in the procession returning Hephaistos to Olympos. In later art satyr children and even women are shown. Other figures of satyr type are Silenos (an alternative name for satyrs) and Marsyas.

Above left: Detail from an Ionian black-figure clay vase, about 530 BC. Niarchos Collection, Athens. © Niarchos Collection

Above middle: Marble sleeping satyr (the so-called 'Barberini faun'). Early second century BC. Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlunen, 218 © Staatliche Antikensammlunen, Munich

Above right: C.M.Kraay, Greek Coins pl. II. © Kraay.