Satyr (Hastings' Dictionary)

The Heb. original ryi? sdir, plur. on'Viy seirim, is usually tr" ' he goat,' its primitive meaning. In two passages (Is 13-' 34") it is tr" in AV and RV ' satyr,^ KVm ' he goat,' LXX in both iai/^ofiarr' demons.' In other two passages (Lv 17', 2Chll") AV renders it 'devils,' RV 'be goats,' RVni 'satyrs,' LXX ^draia = ' foolish things.' Prob- ably in all these passages the intention is to refer to some demon of popular superstition believed to have a goat-like form (cf. art. Demon).

The Greek mythology describes the satyr as a creature the upper part of whose body is tliat of a gross, sensu- ous man, the lower that of a goat. He is the ravisher of the wood-nymphs, the drunken com- panion of Bacchus in his revels (Hesiod, fr. ill). The Roman faun is similar, and is represented with horns and pointed ears (cf. Verg. Eel. v. 73; Hor. Ep. II. ii. 125, Ars Poet. '233). Disgustingly realistic statues and paintings of these creatures are to be seen in the Museum at Naples (cf. W.

R. Smith, BS^ 113 f.; Bochart, Hieroz. ii. 844, iii, 825). G. E. Post.