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Men's hypersexuality was called in ancient Greece “satyriasis” (Greek: Σατυρίαση). Satyrs, were depicted in ancient Greek mythology as half men and half goats, given to lecherous revelry in their dedication towards the exaggerated appetites, being lower class deities who accompanied Dionysus. Aretaeus of Cappadocia, gave a masterful description of the disease, supporting the Hippocratic doctrine of the four humours, and considering the excess of the blood inside the big arteries of the kidneys as the main pathological cause of the penile erection. He had proposed various remedies, and considered that Satyriasis was an acute fatal disease that could kill the sufferer within seven days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his Roman Archaeology, Dionysius of Halicarnassus describes the official ceremonial procession which set off once a year from the Capitoline and terminated at the hippodrome, where sacrifices to the gods were organized and games were held. Stimulated by the thinking of the contemporary Italian humanist, Giorgio Agamben, an attempt is made to approach this procession, known as pompa circensis, as a phenomenon relating to the genealogy of authority and specifically to the relations developed between legal order and human life, and between authority and official doxastic ceremonies. There is particular discussion of the role and the significance of the Silens and Satyrs which participate in the procession, parading in the midst of the young people and ephebes of Rome on the one hand and those carrying the busts of the gods on the other, and making fun of everyone and everything. Such kinds of anomic behaviours should not be correlated only with the other bodies (youths, athletes, kithara-players) taking part in the procession, but mainly with the dominant political authority of Rome, which in any case heads the procession. In the second part of the article the issue of the content of events such as the pompa circensis is raised. These are ceremonies which endeavour to unfold in a large part of the urban space of Rome, seeking a mass popular character and aiming at reinforcing consensus between citizens. This aim is achieved -if it is achieved- by projecting at the level of religion of the city-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The canonical statue known as the Barberini Faun is roundly viewed as a mysterious anomaly, The challenge to interpret it is intensified not only by uncertainties about its date and origin but also by the persistent idea that it represents a generic satyr. This paper tackles this assumption and identifies the statue with the satyr that King Midas captured in the well-known myth, Iconographic analysis of the statue's pose supports this view. In particular, the arm bent above the head, the twist of the torso, and the splay of the legs are paralleled in many well-understood figures and furnish keys to interpreting the Barberini Faun as an extraordinary sleeping beast, intoxicated and fit for capture. The paper then explores the links between kings and satyrs in the Hellenistic age and finds grounds for understanding the statue within the context of royal patronage before the mid-second century BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Archaic Athenian vase-painting, silens (satyrs) are often sexually aroused, but only sporadically satisfy their desires in a manner acceptable to most Athenian men. François Lissarrague persuasively argued that the sexuality of silens in vase-painting was probably laughable rather than awe-inspiring. What sort of laughter did the vase-paintings elicit? Was it the scornful laughter of a person who felt nothing in common with silens, or the laughter of one made to see something of himself in their behavior? For three reasons, I argue for the latter interpretation. First, some vase-paintings are constructed so as to invite the viewer to adopt imaginatively the persona of a silen. Second, parallels for the less-than-triumphant sexuality of silens occur in Archaic iambic poetry. Like the vase-paintings, the poetry was often constructed so that performers of the poems are incorporated into the narratives as all-too-human protagonists. Third, certain formal features of classical satyr-play encouraged the audience to identify with the point of view of the satyr-chorus, while others reminded it that there were better role models than silens. In all three media, a negative characterization of male characters or silens is combined with a manner of presentation that invites the viewer or performer to see himself among those characters despite their negative traits. That form of humor may have been common in Archaic symposia, but its presence in satyr-play suggests that it may also be a fundamental characteristic of silens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Plato's "Phaedrus," Socrates compares the soul to a team of two horses, one obedient and one unruly, driven by a human charioteer. This article argues that essential clues to the psychological ideas expressed in this myth are provided by the imagery of the dance and that of the unruly horse, which resembles not only a satyr but also Socrates himself. Satyrs are daimonic beings with the ability to mediate between mortals and gods. They can thus represent qualities that are essential to the psychic equilibrium of a soul moving in what Socrates characterizes as choral dances led by the gods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the origins of Cyclops, a satyr play by Euripides during the fifth-century BCE in Athens, Greece. Cyclops as a combination of reflexivity and comic of satyr drama; Exploration of the ethnographic nature of Odyssey; Description of a satyr play; Evaluation of ideological categories of civilized and savage in the context of imperialism.

The article discusses some of the images and ideas that led to the portrayal of Greek deity Eros with the attributes of Herakles which were developed and elaborated in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The author claims that unusual attributes have been used to portray Eros in the fifth century BC, but it was probably not until well after the middle of the fourth century that Eros started to acquire the attributes of Herakles. It is stated that the idea of satyrs stealing Herakles' attributes was probably first generated in the theater and then frequently reworked.