What is "satyr"

Satyr \Sa"tyr\ (?; 277), n. [L. satyrus, Gr. ?: cf. F. satyre.]

1. (Class. Myth.) A sylvan deity or demigod, represented as part man and part goat, and characterized by riotous merriment and lasciviousness.

   Rough Satyrs danced; and Fauns, with cloven heel, From the glad sound would not be absent long.
   --Milton.

2. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of many species of butterflies belonging to the family Nymphalid[ae]. Their colors are commonly brown and gray, often with ocelli on the wings. Called also meadow browns.

3. (Zo["o]l.) The orang-outang.

woodland deity, companion of Bacchus, late 14c., from Latin satyrus, from Greek satyros, of unknown origin. In pre-Roman Greek art, a man-like being with the tail and ears of a horse; the modern conception of a being part man, part goat is from Roman sculptors, who seem to have assimilated them to the fauns of native mythology. In some English bibles used curiously to translate Hebrew se'irim, a type of hairy monster superstitiously believed to inhabit deserts.

n. 1 (context Greek mythology English) A male companion of Pan or Dionysus with the tail of a horse and a perpetual erection. 2 (context Roman mythology English) A faun. 3 A lecherous man. 4 Any of various butterfly of the family ''Satyridae'', having brown wings marked with eyelike spots; a meadow brown. 5 (context obsolete English) The orangutan.

1. n. man with strong sexual desires [syn: lecher, lech, letch]

2. one of a class of woodland deities; attendant on Bacchus; identified with Roman fauns [syn: forest god]

In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ; satyros, ) is one of a troop of ithyphallic male companions of Dionysus with goat-like features and often permanent erection. Early artistic representations sometimes include horse-like legs, but in 6th-century BC black-figure pottery human legs are the most common. In Roman Mythology there is a concept similar to satyrs, with goat-like features: the faun, being half-man, half-goat, who roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing. Greek-speaking Romans often used the Greek term saturos when referring to the Latin faunus, and eventually syncretized the two. (The female " Satyresses" were a later invention of poets.)

The satyr's chief was Silenus, a minor deity associated (like Hermes and Priapus) with fertility. These characters can be found in the only complete remaining satyr play, Cyclops, by Euripides, and the fragments of Sophocles' Ichneutae (Tracking Satyrs). The satyr play was a short, lighthearted tailpiece performed after each trilogy of tragedies in Athenian festivals honoring Dionysus. There is not enough evidence to determine whether the satyr play regularly drew on the same myths as those dramatized in the tragedies that preceded. The groundbreaking tragic playwright Aeschylus is said to have been especially loved for his satyr plays, but none of them have survived.

Mature satyrs are often depicted in Roman art with goat's horns, while juveniles are often shown with bony nubs on their foreheads.

As Dionysiac creatures they are lovers of wine and women, and they are ready for every physical pleasure. They roam to the music of pipes ( auloi), cymbals, castanets, and bagpipes, and they love to chase maenads or bacchants (with whom they are obsessed, and whom they often pursue), or in later art, dance with the nymphs , and have a special form of dance called sikinnis. Because of their love of wine, they are often represented holding wine cups, and they appear often in the decorations on wine cups.

Satyr is a mythical creature.

Satyr may also refer to:

Satyr is a 1996 pornographic film, directed by Michael Zen. It was written by Raven Touchstone and stars Jenna Jameson, Asia Carrera, Missy, Brad Armstrong, and Mickey G.