Satyrs were (or are) half-human on the top and half-goat on the bottom. Many people may be familiar with this type of character because Mr. Tumnus from The Chronicles of Narnia is one. In Greek mythology, satyrs entertained the god Dionysus. They were known for their merrymaking. Dionysus was the god of wine, fertility, and revelry. It was at the City Dionysia Festival, which commemorated the coming of Dionysus to Athens, that satyrs plays were introduced.
Dramatists would enter plays for competition. Each dramatist had to enter a trilogy of tragedies and one satyr play. The satyr play would be performed after the tragedies because they would provide comic relief after all the serious material that had been presented. These plays often gave a burlesque treatment of mythology. The characters would use indecent language and make indecent gestures. It is likely that they would also dance.
It is thought that Pratinas wrote 50 plays, 32 of which were satyr plays. However, the only full satyr play to survive to present day is Cyclops by Euripides. It is based on a story found in Homer's Odyssey. It is possible that satyr plays led the way for today's black comedies because of some of the grotesque jokes. Also, many of the jokes may have been found funny at the time of the play's writing, but would not be found funny today.
Disney's Fantasia animated the idea of Dionysus, the satyrs, and many other Greek gods and Greek mythological figures. In the clip below, you can see Dionysus, centaurs, satyrs, unicorns, Zeus, Hephaestus, and more mythological figures.
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