SILE'NUS (I.sarmoc), a Greek deity. The traditions of his birth are various : he is said to be the son of Pan and of a nymph; of Gtea ; and to hate sprung from the blood of Uranus. He was the instructor and constant associate of Dionysos ; was a lawgiver and prophet, some times confounded with Dionysos himself ; of the family of Satyrs, whom he resembled very much in appearance and habits. He is repre sented as an old unwieldy man, bald, with a beard, and depressed nose, sometimes with a tail; at times holding the infant Bacchus in his arms; sitting astride a wine-skin, or carrying one on his shoulders. He has a conspicuous place in the Dionysian processions, and occurs in various combination with fauns and nymphs ; sometimes be rides on an ass reeling and supported by a satyr; and sometimes he is carried by youth ful satyrs. Though endowed with supernatural wisdom, he is of a jovial disposition ; his whole character is a mixture of jest and earnest ; he is harmless, sportive, fond of children ; addicted.to wine; is said to have conducted Dionysos from Thrace to Phrygia; and to have been ensnared by Midas in a garden, and compelled to exert his marvellous power of speech. His discourse, always ironical, was of the second world, of the land of Meropis, and of its strange men, beasts, and plants, of the origin of things and birth of the gods, and he showed the miserable condition of this present life. The ass by which he is
accompanied has given rise to many conjectures ; the Dionysian myths and those of Apollo speak of this animal as sacred to both deities. It may therefore be considered as the link uniting the two worships; and we find accordingly Apollo called the son of Silents. (Porphyry, 'Vit. Pythag.; p. 10, ed. Rome,1630.) Attempts have been made by Boehart and others to connect Silents with the name Shiloh in Scripture, and his ass with that of Balaam. Other imaginary resemblances are noticed by Crenzer Symbolik '), founded on the theory that the ass is the symbol of prophecy in the East.
The distinction between Sileni and Satyrs appears to be that the Sileni are the older of the two. The terms were certainly notsco extensive ; that of Satyr may be considered as the genus; but they are represented much in the same manner. See, for representations of Silenus, Creuzer's ' Symbolik; Griiber's Worterbuch der Mythologie; and Mtiller's Denkmiiler der Alten Kunst' (Nos. 494-522); Millin's Galeria Mythologique,' and the various works on gems, sculpture, vases, and other monuments of classical antiquity.