The Domestication of the Other. Hermes, the Lyre and the Satyrs between Violence and Civilization

Abstract

Within the general frame of violence and its representations in Ancient Greece, this paper focuses on the myth of Hermes inventing the lyre and on the relationship between this god and the Satyrs. The representation of Satyrs on vessels used at Symposia clearly shows the civilizing effects of music, that allows a shift from “savagery” to “culture”, and from the “other” to the “self”.