satyr
/ˈsatə
/noun
1 Greek Mythology One of a class of lustful, drunken woodland gods. In Greek art they were represented as a man with a horse’s ears and tail, but in Roman representations as a man with a goat’s ears, tail, legs, and horns.One side depicts Herakles, clad in spotted tunic with dagger drawn, about to slay the Nemean lion; the other, Dionysus and two nude satyrs....
- He relates how a satyr found pipes discarded by their inventor, Minerva (the goddess Athena in Greek mythology), how the satyr challenged Apollo, and how he was punished as a result.
- As befits the son of a satyr, Midas was a king who loved the pleasures of this world.
1.1A man who has strong sexual desires: Charles was an unmarried satyr...
- Five years of sexual relations with this satyr of a King were all that she could manage, given what she called her ‘cold temperament’ and her numerous health complications.
- Unfortunately, Sutherland plays a pony-tailed satyr of only limited charm, and Garner, who is a fine comic actor, is never really put to work.
- Her confrontation of the insatiable satyr while he has his hand up another honey's haunches is the sole moment of real emotion in what is otherwise a movie of surfaces.
2A satyrid butterfly with chiefly dark brown wings.
- Tribes Satyrini (including the Eurasian genus Satyrus) and Euptychiini (the American wood satyrs), subfamily Satyrinae, family Nymphalidae.
Derivatives
satyric
- J. C. Scaliger sparked off a controversy when he claimed that Roman satire was descended from Greek satyric drama.
- Anyone who is capable of seeing through the satyric hide of Alcibiades' discourse, capable of discerning his admiration and his love, will no longer wish to mock Socrates or condemn him to death.
- We have eleven titles and some brief fragments, notably from the satyric Omphale.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French satyre, or via Latin from Greek saturos.