Mixed creatures led by the Greek god Pan, consisting of humans and billy goats, as representatives of merrymaking and fertility demons who are devoted to dancing and drinking wine. The voluptuous creatures are of hulking form, have shaggy hair, a blunt, upturned nose, pointed ears and a goat's tail or small horse's tail. On ancient vases they are often depicted with an erect phallus. The satyrs accompanied the Greek god of wine Dionysus (or his Roman counterpart Bacchus) on his travels.
The female maenads (frenzy, madness) were also part of the entourage. The picture on the left shows a maenad (left) and a satyr with the thyrsos staff (fertility symbol) and a kantharos (drinking vessel for wine). The father of the satyrs is Silenos, the tutor and companion of the young Dionysus. Sometimes Hermes is also mentioned as the father. The first vine grew from the corpse of the satyr Ampelos, after whom ampelography is named.
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Roman Horvath MW
Domäne Wachau (Wachau)