σάτυρος

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /sá.ty.ros/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈsa.ty.ros/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈsa.ty.ros/^[1]

Forms

σᾰ́τῠρος (sáturos) m (genitive σᾰτῠ́ρου); second declension^[1] Doric Τίτυρος (Títuros).^[2][3]

Etymology

The etymology is unknown, and Frisk calls it no doubt a foreign word.^[4][5][6] Beekes reviews a number of proposals and finds that none of them makes sense: a compound of a word for “penis” and a root “to swell” (Solmsen); an Illyrian word related to Latin sator (“sower”) (Krahe) or to satur (“full”) (Kerényi); a connection with goats or with tails (the “Pelasgian” theories).^[4][5] A Semitic etymology is rejected by Rosół.^[7]

For such a mythical name, Beekes considers Pre-Greek origin likely, supported by the suffix -υρ-, and compares Σιληνός (Silēnós) and τίτυρος (títuros).^[4][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first known use is in a fragment of Hesiod, which speaks of the “race of worthless and useless satyrs”.^[2][4][9]

Semantic evolution

The satyrs belong to the company of Dionysus and were often represented as goats or with goat features.^[4][3] PHILOGLOSSA notes that they were confused with the Silens already in early myth.^[4][9][3] Plural Σάτυροι was the name of the satyr play, which had a chorus of satyrs and formed the fourth piece of a tragic tetralogy.^[2][10]

The word was applied to people: Hermippus called Pericles “king of the satyrs”, and Plato's Symposium calls Socrates a satyr, because of his appearance according to LSJ, or his irony according to Πάπυρος.^[2][3] It was used for a lewd man, and Pausanias and Aelian for a kind of tailed ape.^[2][4] Diodorus places a fabulous people of Satyrs in Ethiopia.^[2]

Through Latin satyrus and Old French it gave English satyr (late 14th century).^[6] Modern Greek σάτυρος (sátiros) means a lecher or a very ugly man.^[3]

Timeline

• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod mentions the race of satyrs.^[2][9][11]
• 5th century BC – the comic poet Hermippus calls Pericles “king of the satyrs”.^[2][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses Σάτυροι for the satyr play, and Plato calls Socrates a satyr.^[2][11]
• 2nd century AD – Pausanias uses it for a tailed ape.^[2][4][11]
• Late 14th century – English satyr.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A satyr, one of the goatish companions of Dionysus (Diónusos).^[2][4]
2. A lewd, goatish man.^[2][3]
3. A kind of tailed ape.^[2][4]
4. (plural) A satyr play.^[2][10]

Word family

• σατυρικός (saturikós)
• σατυρίσκος (saturískos)
• σατυρίασις (saturíāsis)

Related words

• Σιληνός (Silēnós)
• English satyr

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
8. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
10. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge