Engraved Scaraboid with Satyr and Sleeping Maenad (Main View, front)

Satyrs are frequently depicted harassing maenads (female followers of Dionysos) in Classical Greek art (compare, for example, a similar scene on the inside of an Attic red-figure kylix, 86.AE.607). On this chalcedony scaraboid, a youthful satyr is shown approaching a sleeping maenad who is oblivious to his advances. He is shown mid-action, his left hand outstretched, and his right moving to draw back the cloak from her naked body, which now covers only her lower thighs and legs. She lies on a low rock, her arms bent behind her head in a pose used frequently in Classical art to denote deep sleep and vulnerability. Her hair is also loose. This is typical of Greek depictions of maenads and signals her wild nature; like her loose clothes, it also indicates that her body is unprotected. Beside her is a thyrsos, a ritual staff of giant fennel covered with ivy vines and leaves carried by Dionysos and his followers.

A scaraboid is a simplified scarab, with a plain curved back and an intaglio design decorating the flat underside. They gradually replaced the scarab in Greece in the 400s B.C. Like scarabs, they were typically pierced and worn either as a ring or pendant. When attached to a metal hoop and worn as a ring, the curved side faced out and the intaglio surface rested against the finger. When needed as a seal, the ring was removed, the gem swiveled, and the intaglio design was pressed into soft clay or wax to identify and secure property.