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Exhibit of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (in the last third, please scroll down to the illustrations):
Satyrs, in ancient Greek myth also called Satyros, were boisterous, wild, lustful demons of nature.
Like the Silene half equine and indistinguishable from them - also with horse ears, hooves and mostly erect phallus - these beings were frequently to be found in the orgiastic and ecstatic entourage of the wine and fertility god Dionysos.
In Hellenistic times the satyrs were depicted in the shape of a ram as a result of their approach to Pan, the patron god of shepherds and the small cattle, son of Hermes.
Satyr Marsyas picked up the flute Athena had thrown away because the blowing distorted her face and achieved great mastery in the game. The god of light Apollo, invited by Marsyas to compete, won and pulled off his skin alive. His blood became the river of the same name.
Originally native to the Peloponnese, the cheerful scenic satyr play was a genre of its own in the theatre. Among his main figures were satyrs with thick bellies or - in Athens - with ponytails and phalls, which performed a hustle and bustle determined by excessive lust for food, drink and senses.
The "Cyclops" by Euripides is the only satyr game completely preserved. Extensive games have been handed down from the "Net Fishers" of Aeschylus and Sophokles´ "Sniffing Dogs".
This bronze satyr statue comes from the Zeus Shrine in Dodona and is dated 540-530 BC, a work of a Corinthian workshop. The satyr shows an ithyphallic, stiffly excited limb. In popular belief, ithyphallic gods, Satyrn, Silenen, Priapos, Hermes, also Apollo and Zeus, to name but a few, played an important role as bringer of sexual pleasures and were worshipped in rituals.
Exhibit of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Inventory No. KAP 22, original size replica made of ceramine (high-strength special gypsum) in bronze finish.
This product was added to our catalog on Saturday, February 1, 2014.
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