Comments on: Goatmen and Satyrs

By: southernfriedbigfoot

southernfriedbigfoot — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:26:38 +0000

BoyintheMachine:

Thanks for the info. I do have a book of Cajun ghost stories that has an illustration depicting The Grunch as a four-legged, two-armed monster with the body of a goat, the torso of a man, and ram’s horns, hence my recollection. I have no idea if the illustration is the result of alleged legends or artistic license. The name of the book is “Haunted Bayou and Other Cajun Ghost Stories” by JJ Reneaux.

By: Fhqwhgads

Fhqwhgads — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:02:19 +0000

BoyintheMachine:

I don’t know about the origin of the Greek or Roman satyrs, but I’ve been reading Gavin White’s Babylonian Star-Lore, and he claims that one of the most ancient of the Mesopotamian constellations was the “Bison-Man” (pp 57–60), which looked very similar to a satyr. His constellation was apparently transformed into the centaur when the Greeks adapted Babylonian astronomy.

By: Fhqwhgads

Fhqwhgads — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:41:01 +0000

cryptidsrus:

I’m not surprised you’ve read the Life of Paul the Hermit. I’ve seen you over at “the Paranormal Pastor” — and you’ve seen me, too, though not by this name.

One of St. Jerome’s self-admitted weaknesses was Greek literature, which I think has to be taken into account with the hippocentaur story. His insistence that there was real evidence for the satyr, on the other hand, is much more intriguing. Could it have been a chimpanzee, which after all has the scientific name Pan pan? No horns or hooves, but it might have been seen as “part man, part goat” by some people. (On the other hand, by the Middle Ages at least true apes with no tails were known — see The Book of Beasts, p. 34 ff.) Or was it a deliberate fraud? If so, the interesting part is that it was described as being ALIVE in Alexandria, which (if accurate) rules out two corpses sewn together. Maybe it was someone suffering a birth defect?

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:39:05 +0000

Loren:
Thanks for the post. I agree with others—more “paranormal” than truly cryptozoological, but great to relate anyway.

Fhqwads:

I happened to have READ Jerome’s life of Paul the Hermit. Awesome that you brought it up!!!

Anthony also happened to have encountered a HIPPOCENTAUR as well on his way to meet with Paul. The tale has always fascinated me. Thanks.

I also agree with Clman1. Whether SOME of these these “sightings” are fake or not, it bears investigating. One should always respect the Native American point of view. They’ve been around in this continent longer than the rest of us and have seen more “things” than us.

By: BoyintheMachine

BoyintheMachine — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:07:57 +0000

Att: southernfriedbigfoot,

The Grunch is described as a black, goat-like monster with spineson it’s body. I’ve never heard of it described as a goat-man. Would be interested if anybody has any tales of such.

By: clman1

clman1 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:11:40 +0000

I am of Native American descent, and remember a story of how my grandfather saw a creature- half man, half goat cross in front of his Model T one night back in the 20’s. My Grandfather was an experienced woodsman and had never saw anything like it.
I am still hoping that Bigfoot can eventually be identified as a living hominid. However, we cannot discount that there are things people see, ie goatmen, the jersey devil, and mothmen which seem to defy all logic and have to be considered in the realm of the paranormal. If you discount what one person sees as being a hallucination or as being to ridiculous to believe, then are you not taking the same line as mainstream science does when they approach Bigfoot? Whatever all these strange things are, creptids, ufos, ghosts, etc.-there is definitely much that science has to learn.

By: southernfriedbigfoot

southernfriedbigfoot — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:21:48 +0000

There’s a legend in or around the New Orleans area about a creature called The Grunch. If memory serves me correctly, some of the stories describe it as a goatman.

By: Fhqwhgads

Fhqwhgads — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:50:34 +0000

Antony was amazed, and thinking over what he had seen went on his way. Before long in a small rocky valley shut in on all sides he sees a mannikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like goats' feet.... The answer he received from him was this: "I am a mortal being and one of those inhabitants of the desert whom the Gentiles deluded by various forms of error worship under the names of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi...." Let no one scruple to believe this incident; its truth is supported by what took place when Constantine was on the throne, a matter of which the whole world was witness. For a man of that kind was brought alive to Alexandria and shown as a wonderful sight to the people. Afterwards his lifeless body, to prevent its decay through the summer heat, was preserved in salt and brought to Antioch that the Emperor might see it. From the Life of Paulus the First Hermit, by St. Jerome.

By: BoyintheMachine

BoyintheMachine — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:05:35 +0000

I’ve blogged on Satyr sightings on my blog, but the thing I need to point out is that Satyrs were originally viewed has being a race of men having horse ears and a horse tail.

Only later with the Romans did Satyrs begin to take on goat-like attributes.

By: erinmar13

erinmar13 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:28:48 +0000

i agree that these encounters at least SOUND more paranormal than cryptozoological. but that doesn’t mean they should be shoved into that realm without looking into it. it’s clear that their upper body and heads especially have the horned, devilish, pan-like appearance, but i’m curious about the hands and feet. whether they have hooved feet or bare mammalian feet or even shoes.
it’s important to remember though, when recalling fauns and satyrs, that ancient civilizations had a habit of saying that a person or creature was part something; it was depicted literally but had its base in metaphor. for example, the king of attica, cecrops, was said to be half snake. what this really meant was that he was actually very wise, as snakes represent wisdom. it’s the same as saying that a guy who can swim really well must be part fish. in conjunction with bringing up satyrs and goatmen, i have to mention that these animalistic traits given to these creatures could be nothing more than similarly portraying animal characteristics to “wild men.” wild men which could have been neanderthals or sasquatches. but if this is really the case, it makes these sightings of goatmen all the more intriguing.
and very good timing Loren, with Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell coming out on dvd next tuesday having as its antagonist a very “devil” looking lamia demon.