Silenus
Americannoun
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Sileni
plural
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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.
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(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.
noun
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chief of the satyrs and foster father to Dionysus: often depicted riding drunkenly on a donkey
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(often not capital) one of a class of woodland deities, closely similar to the satyrs
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
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See Examples For:
Also in the exhibit is a decoration from a temple rain-gutter depicting a bearded Silenus, a mythological creature associated with Dionysus, the wine god.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
Silenus, a companion of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, sprawls across the canvas with a brightly lit, barrel-like belly and a cup raised for a refill.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2019
“Metamorphoses” also inspired an intriguing pair of panels devoted to the hapless drunkard Silenus and another about Prometheus and the creation of man.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 29, 2015
The gadroons on the underside look very Iranian but the grinning bearded Silenus mask that takes the place of the boss in comparable Iranian pieces is strictly Greek.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2011
Silenus was sometimes said to be Pan’s son; sometimes his brother, a son of Hermes.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
The nymphs, shepherds and Sileni who decorate the big classical landscapes of his middle years are inert and stereotyped.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Sileni were creatures part man and part horse.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Do you remember the ambush of the Sileni?
From The Tarn of Eternity by Frank Tymon
He bore in his train the Satyrs, whose joyous troop I led, Sileni, Pans, and Centaurs.
From Anatole France The Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France
And after them there marched five troops of asses, on which rode Sileni and Satyri, all wearing crowns.
From The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athen?us by Athen?us
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