Terracotta pelike (wine jar)

Acheloös Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, the henchmen of King Midas lying in wait for Silenos Reverse, flute player and two boxers The difference between satyrs and silens cannot be defined conclusively, but silens are often considered older satyrs. Silens could be endowed with great wisdom in addition to a great capacity for wine. King Midas of Phrygia once had his men trap a silen by luring him to a fountain of water mixed with wine. Midas's purpose was to benefit from the silen's counsel.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art