The satyr is a small creature who seems to be an unusual mix of horse, man, and goat. There could be a number of other things mixed in there, but the three I listed seem to be the most common. He was the little dancing familiar of a Greek god called Dionysus. Who is Dionysus? Imagine a god who ate, drank, and partied to his heart's content and encouraged others to do the same. No doubt he was very popular.
The satyr, sometimes referred to as Pan by name, would dance around his leader playing a set of pipes called a Pan flute. He was very friendly and even rather amorous with those who would talk to him. He was generally just as much the life of the party as Dionysus was, but there is more to it then that.
Where Dionysus had given himself to pleasure in all things, Pan was rather focuses on sex. He loved sex. He adored sex in all forms, and I ask you to take that as seriously as you can. There was no type of sex he would turn down. There is artwork to this day of satyrs copulating with animals and even a few with human children. The majority seems to be with young women, but it is believed that the satyr could simply not say no and would often be the instigator. The term Pansexual is very appropriate here. It really represented what this creature was.
Now, why would the Greeks create a creature that was so... nasty. Chances are, the satyr actually did exist and we are simply looking at a record of it. You can imagine what an impression Pan made at some of these parties. I can see him dancing around on the large dinner table. He would be completely nude and clearly making sure everyone could see his nudity. Nobody is allowed to protest this because Dionysus is RIGHT THERE. Nobody is ever allowed to counter a god's pleasure.
The satyr might come right up to you and out rightly say that he wants to so something with you. What do you do? I imagine saying no at the time would get you into a lot of trouble. Such pressure! Whether you like it or not, the satyr will have his way because of the forces that currently rule Ancient Greece.
The satyr in his past form does not seem to exist anymore. However, his spirit seems to still linger in the world. We saw it very heavily in the USA in the 60's and 70's, but it has actually always been around to some degree. We call it the Free Love Movement now. It is all about living life for pleasure and having sex with no strings attached whatsoever. That is how the satyr saw things. He still seems to push his master's ideals and get as many concubines as he can muster through this movement.
Dionysus was a demon and his pet satyr was a hybrid demon creature. They walked the earth together and we accepted them at the time. They taught us to make love without any real caring for one another. It was not a good thing, and the world is at a loss for it. Nevertheless, I see satyrs all the time in fiction, and his representation, although inaccurate, is a very wonderful thing to see,
Many old cartoons paint the satyr to be an innocent frolicking fairy who can cause plants to grow on command by playing his flute. Ironic that they try and make him out to be so innocent which is in stark contrast to the real thing. There is also Mister Tumnus from the "Chronicles of Narnia." He was referred to as a faun which is really just another name for a satyr. How many of you were a little creeped out by this supposedly friendly character? Chances are the author knew who these beings were and subtlety weaved the truth into his personality.
One of my favorite appearances of Pan came from Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows." In this wonderful book, Pan appears as a sort of saint to the animals. He is worshiped by them and seems to be their protector. The scene in which he appears was very powerful and a bit startling for a story that was often filled with comic mishap. It goes down as one of my favorite moments in literature of all time.
One final word on satyrs: There is nothing wrong with liking them. Satyrs can be drawn in very cute ways. They were meant to be a little attractive, after all. But keep in mind what they came to this world to do. They aren't really as friendly as they look. They want to use humanity for their own pleasure, and they honestly don't understand--and never will understand--that that is a very bad thing. Satyrs are incapable of caring about anything. Humans still can. Let's be the force that makes a difference in the world.
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Fascinating how Pan still haunts the Earth with his spirit of free love. Indeed there is nothing wrong with being inspired by satyrs, we have the ability as human beings to create something new and pure from something perverted. We also have to have eyes to see to not be fooled when the original shows up.
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest, I think they are so cool. I would be fascinated to meet one but would also be wary about it. I am happy good things have come from the character, and they should never been mocked based on the original entity.
DeleteDionysus obviously thought his satyr was cute. He seemed to feel genuine affection for him. Then again, Pan was the dog that humped EVERY leg... and the owner of the leg was expected to "like" it. Yes, the satyrs were probably charming. Flirtation is sexual foreplay, however, and when a satyr flirts, he means to take his foreplay to the next level. These were indeed demons. They are mentioned as such in the Bible. They are "unclean" entities of ether mixed with dust. They still haunt this world. They are probably the spirits that tempted the hippies.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the satyr's "religion" ended up leading to the Free Love movement which undoubtedly lead to all kinds of nasty diseases. The satyr spread diseases too and did not care at all that he was.
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