On the other hand, a list[61] of fifteen Attic vases has been drawn up on which goat-men appear. None of these antedates 450 B.C., so that it is clear that such figures did not go back to a remote period in Athenian history. In fact, they can hardly be conceived of as preceding Pratinas’ introduction of the satyric drama toward the close of the sixth century. Unfortunately none of these vases is inscribed, but the caprine ears, hoofs, horns, and tails scarcely leave room for doubt that these creatures, like similar figures of Hellenistic and Roman times, were known as satyrs. With one possible exception ([Fig. 9]), which will be discussed presently, these representations also have no direct relationship to the theater. It would thus appear that from first to last a clear distinction was drawn, outside the sphere of theatrical influence, between the equine sileni and the caprine satyrs.
Fig. 4.—Preparations for a Satyric Drama from a Naples Crater of About 400 B.C.
Of the vases which may certainly be regarded as representing scenes from satyric drama the best known and most pretentious is a crater in Naples ([Fig. 4]).[62] This and a crater at Deepdene were painted about 400 B.C. Somewhat earlier are another crater at Deepdene, a dinos at Athens (Figs. [5] and [6]), and fragments of two dinoi at Bonn ([Fig. 7]).[63] The last three are derived from the same original. On the Naples crater preparations for a satyr-play are being made in the presence of Dionysus and Ariadne, who are seen in an affectionate embrace in the center of the top row. The names of the figures are made known by inscriptions in most cases but are not always significant. Just beyond Ariadne, Love (Ἵμερος) hovers above an uninscribed actor in women’s costume, whose mask is provided with a Scythian cap. The next figure is Heracles (inscribed) and the next is thought to be Silenus. Beyond Dionysus is an uninscribed actor in royal costume. Except Love, all these figures carry masks and constitute the histrionic personages in the drama. It has been claimed with great plausibility that the play dealt with Heracles’ exploits at Troy.[64] In that case the king is Laomedon and the maiden is Hesione, his daughter, who was rescued from the sea monster by Heracles. To the right of the dancing choreutes in the lower row is the flute-player (Pronomus), who will furnish the accompaniment for the lyrical portions of the play; to the left is Demetrius with a roll in his hand, probably the poet. The remaining twelve figures are probably choreutae and bear more directly upon our present investigation. Most of them carry masks, and they have human feet and no horns. They resemble sileni in having long equine tails. The sole resemblance to satyrs is found in the fact that nine of them wear a shaggy covering about the loins, supposedly a goatskin. The waistband upon the choreutes in the extreme upper left-hand corner, however, resembles cloth trunks more than a skin. Yet this divergence is probably to be explained as due to carelessness or a whim on the part of the draftsman instead of to an essential difference in material. This appears plainly from a study of the other vases in this series, on which the loin-bands resemble the trunks of the last-mentioned choreutes on the Naples crater rather than the skins of his nine companions. None the less, a multitude of short dashes on the waistbands in one of the Bonn dinoi ([Fig. 7]) is plainly intended to characterize them as skins, and the bands on the Deepdene craters are “patterned in such a way as to suggest a fringed or shaggy edge.” An illuminating side light upon the freedom which the painter exercised is afforded by a comparison of the left-hand choreutae in Figs. [6] and [7]. These are identical figures in different copies of the same original; yet the shagginess of the loin-band is clearly indicated in the one and entirely omitted in the other. Moreover, the choreutes on the other dinos at Bonn seems to wear no waistband at all![65] In conclusion, it will be observed that, except for variations in the representation of the conventionalized goatskin, the choreutae upon all these vases are exactly alike:[66] they all have human feet, no horns, and equine tails. It is evident that by 400 B.C. or a little earlier this type had become standardized for theatrical purposes. That it suffered no material modification thereafter appears from a Pompeian mosaic ([Fig. 8]).[67]
Fig. 8.—Poet and Choreutae of a Satyric Drama from a Pompeian Mosaic
It is plain that this was the type of satyr which the unknown source of the notice in Etymologicum Magnum had in mind when attempting to explain the etymology of τραγῳδία: “... or because the choruses generally consisted of satyrs whom they called ‘goats’ in jest either on account of the shagginess of their bodies or on account of their lasciviousness, for the animal is of such a sort; or because the choreutae plaited their hair, imitating the form of goats.”[68] This passage has been used to support the canonical doctrine that tragedy was the child of satyric drama (see [pp. 2] and [22 f.], above), but is far from adequate for that purpose. The words after δασύτητα (“shagginess”) are often ignored or even omitted. But it is necessary to interpret the final phrase, “imitating the form of goats,” in terms of the details stated in the context. So far as we are now concerned, the only point of resemblance mentioned is their “shagginess.” This and Horace’s expression about the tragic poet “stripping his satyrs” for the satyr-play[69] would be entirely suitable in describing the choreutae on the Naples crater. Furthermore, it will be noted that this explanation occurs only in a late Byzantine notice and that no earlier source is mentioned. The only way in which a respectable antiquity can be claimed, by means of literary evidence, for this interpretation consists in maintaining that it is implicit in Aristotle’s phrase ἐκ σατυρικοῦ μετέβαλεν. But we have already seen (see [p. 22], above), that this expression need not, and probably does not, support this view. The only other passage which can be cited in this connection occurs in three other Byzantine writers.[70] The conclusion is irresistible that both the goat-men explanation of the word τραγῳδία and the supposed development of tragedy from satyric drama are due to “reconstructions” of literary history at an extremely late period.
