Satyrs
Fausset's Bible Dictionary [1]
Seirim . Leviticus 17:7, "they shall no more offer ... sacrifices unto devils" ( Seirim ) i.e. to the evil spirits of the desert, literally, "shaggy goats," hence applied to an object of pagan worship or a demon dwelling in the desert ( 2 Chronicles 11:15; Isaiah 13:21; Isaiah 34:14). At Mendes in Lower Egypt the goat was worshipped with foul rites. Israel possibly once shared in them. Compare Joshua 24:14-15; Ezekiel 23:8-9; Ezekiel 23:21.
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary [2]
In Greek mythology, were imaginary demons, half men and half goats, believed by the superstitious to haunt forests and groves. The Hebrew word translates satyrs in Isaiah 13:21 34:14 , means hairy, shaggy creatures, such as wild goats, or perhaps monsters of the ape family. It is translated "goats" in Leviticus 4:24 , and "devils" in Leviticus 17:7 . The gambols of these wild animals on the ruins of Babylon mark is as an uninhabited and lonely waste. See Ape .
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [3]
in Greek mythology, were daemonic companions of Bacchus. who represented the unrestrained and luxurious life in the Bacchic circle. They are not mentioned in Homer, and Hesiod does not describe their form, though he speaks of them as a useless race having no adaptability to labor. Later writers furnish a description about as follows: Bristly hair, a short, thick, and turned-up nose, pointed ears, the neck often marked with small lumps resembling horns, a horse tail, sometimes a goat tail over the coccyx. The endowment of these beings with horns and goats' feet was a misconception of later days by which they were identified with pans, paniscs, and fauns. The satyrs were said to be sons of Mercury and Iphthime, or of the naiads. The oldest and most prominent of them was named Silenus, and the older satyrs are called Sileni collectively. Marsyas, too, was a satyr. In substance, the satyrs were companions of Bacchus; they were excessively fond of wine, and are accordingly represented as drinking, as reeling with the thyrsus, as overcome with sleep, as wine pressers, or as playing on the flute or cymbal. Their attributes were the flute, the thyrsus staff, pandean pipes, the shepherd's staff, drinking vessels, and bottles. They were clothed in skins of beasts and crowned with vine branches, ivy, and pine twigs. They have frequently been the subject of artistic representation, and always in company with Bacchus. The Latin word satira (a satire), originally satura, has not the remotest connection with the Greek Satyri, and should not be in any way referred to them.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [4]
In the Greek mythology semi-animal woodland deities who roamed the hills generally in the train of Dionysus ( q. v .), dancing to rustic music; represented with long pointed ears, flat noses, short horns, and a hair-clad man's body, with the legs and hoofs of a goat; they are of lustful nature, and fond of sensual pleasure generally.
