Fauns versus Satyrs

Although originally separate beings from separate cultures, fauns and satyrs were conflated and syncretized by the Roman Empire. Nowadays some self-styled experts try to claim that they should be treated separately when writing fantasy fiction, but I find this unnecessary. That said, I do think they could be given more diversity within fiction.

© Kory Bingaman

Greek mythology includes a variety of rustic deities, including satyrs, pans, fauns, silens, and curetes. Some of these, like the pans, fauns and silens, were the multiplications of originally singularity deities Pan, Faunus and Silenus. Other satyrs included the satyrisk (a small satyr), identified with putto, and the satyra or satyress (a female satyr), identified with the fauness.

Satyrs were originally all-male, with their female counterparts being the maenads and nymphs. Faunesses and satyresses were late additions by poets and artisans, presumably derived from the maenads and nymphs (e.g. "Satyra" was a maenad, a London krater depicts a pointy-eared maenad). Curiously, the Glaistigs of Celtic myth were female sprites that are sometimes compared to satyresses by modern critics.

© SeaDogNick

At their most basic, satyrs are man-like creatures with the features of horses, goats or similar beasts. Satyrs were depicted with "horse's tails, puck noses and ass's ears," and sometimes they had little horns or even the head of a goat or ram. To contrast against them, fauns were depicted with "larger horns and goats' feet."

© SaskiaDeKorte

Ancient authors multiplied Pan, Faunus, and Silenus, conflated Pan and Faunus, and conflated fauns and satyrs. In medieval times the Malleus Maleficarum and poets like Chaucer conflated the faun and satyr with the incubus of Christian tradition.

In OGL games, sometimes a distinction is made between fauns and satyrs:

• Relics & Rituals: Excalibur distinguishes fauns and satyrs by proclaiming the later as an all-male race.
• Pathfinder distinguishes satyrs and fauns by proclaiming the former are the result of rape. Yuck!

I see no reason to make a distinction. I feel it would more constructive to make the satyrs more diverse, as in Greek mythology when the various fauns, pans and silens were seen as social or familial groupings of satyrs and in later periods when maenads seemingly evolved into satyresses.

© Tokkan Sono