A feature of the numerous Dionysiac subjects on vases is the tendency to individualise Satyrs and Maenads by means of names, sometimes meaningless, sometimes names otherwise known in mythology, and frequently personifications of abstract conceptions, such as we shall see later to be very common on vases of all periods; in these cases they usually have some relation to the character or occupation of the personages to whom they are attached. The Satyrs Marsyas and Olympos sometimes appear in the larger compositions[774]; the former has been already mentioned in another connection. There is also a curious representation of Akratos,[775] the deity of unmixed wine (a liquid which to the Greeks implied an extravagance of revelry, owing to the intoxicating nature of the undiluted beverage). A type of Seilenos covered from head to foot with shaggy skin, and known as Papposeilenos, is often found on the later vases.[776] It is difficult to distinguish in all cases between Seileni and Satyrs on the vases, and the exact differences between the various types have not yet been properly elucidated, so that the terms are of necessity somewhat conventional.[777] The equine type of Satyr, with horse’s hoofs as well as tail, which is so frequently found on the sixth-century Ionic vases, has been noted elsewhere.[778] The young beardless Satyr is mostly found in the later period.
The number of vases on which Satyrs and Maenads are distinguished by name is very large, but only a few of the more important need be mentioned, along with some of the more curious names from the isolated instances.[779] On a vase in Berlin[780] no less than ten Maenads are named—Anthe (Flower), Choro (Dance), Chrysis (Gold), Kale (Beauty), Kisso (Ivy), Makaria (Blessed), Naia, Nymphe, Phanope, and Periklymene (Renowned); on one at Leyden[781] six—Dorkis, Io, Klyto, Molpe (Song), Myro, and Xantho (Fair-hair). On the former vase a Seilenos is expressly so named, and on the latter are four Satyrs with names; on a kylix by Brygos in the British Museum[782] the Seileni attacking Iris are styled Babacchos, Dromis, Echon, Terpon, etc.[783]
Other Satyr-names are Briacchos,[784] Dithyrambos,[785] Demon,[786] Hedyoinos (Sweet Wine),[787] Hybris (Insolence),[788] Hedymeles (Sweet Song),[789] Komos (Revelry),[790] Kissos (Ivy),[791] Molkos,[792] Oinos,[793] Oreimachos,[794] Simos (Snub-nose),[795] Tyrbas (Rout).[796]