Silenus

Silenus or Si·le·nos, Sei·le·nos [sahy-lee-nuh s] Examples noun, plural Si·le·ni [sahy-lee-nahy] /saɪˈli naɪ/ for 2. Classical Mythology.

1. a forest spirit, sometimes referred to as the oldest of the satyrs and the foster father, teacher, and companion of Dionysus: often represented as a bearded old man.
2. (lowercase) any of a group of forest spirits similar to satyrs: often represented as a drunken old man with the legs and ears of a horse.

Examples from the Web for sileni Historical Examples of sileni

Some Sileni of the throng sat on benches and hay-trusses by the wall; and one of them recognized her.

Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Thomas Hardy

The grape design at the base of the little statue, and the snake supporting the candleholder, both are symbols of the sileni.

Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, Mycenae

Jennie Hall

And after them came two Sileni in purple cloaks and white fringes to them.

The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenus

Athenus

The p. xxxiiirevel of Dionysus was introduced by men disguised as Sileni, wild woodland beings in raiment of purple and scarlet.

Theocritus, Bion and Moschus

Theocritus

The sileni mate with them, and Hermes, too, in the privy recesses of delightful grottoes.

The Sacred Tree

J. H. Philpot

British Dictionary definitions for sileni Silenus noun Greek myth

1. chief of the satyrs and foster father to Dionysus: often depicted riding drunkenly on a donkey
2. plural Sileni (saɪˈliːnəɪ) (often not capital) one of a class of woodland deities, closely similar to the satyrs

Word Origin and History for sileni Silenus

1710, from Greek Seilenos, foster-father of Bacchus and leader of the satyrs; the name is of unknown origin (Klein compares Thracian zilai “wine”).