Group of Silenus and monkey

The figurine represents a sitting Silenus, on whose left shoulder stands a monkey which delouses him. It is handmade, except for the Silenus' face, which has been pressed in a mould. Traces of black, red and white paint, preserved in various parts of the body, suggest that the figurine was originally decorated in polychromy. The figurine can be attributed to a Boeotian or an Attic workshop. Sileni, like Satyrs, were mythical, ithyphallic creatures with human body and head, and equine legs and tail. As is the case with most daemonic figures, they were of ambiguous nature, combining their often savage character and insatiable appetite for pleasures with their wisdom and knowledge of the crafts, which were beneficent for mankind. Sileni and Satyrs, which can be differentiated solely by age, since the former are older, are not mentioned in the Homeric epics and are reasonably regarded as a later addition to Greek mythology. Certainly, from the 6th c. BC they were, together with the Maenads, members of the thiasos or entourage of Dionysos and assumed the role of the chorus in satyric drama.