Aristaeus is a Satyr who first appeared in The Song of Orpheus, Chapter 1, which take place in Ancient Greece.
History[]
At some point in the past Aristaeus had been married to a woman named Autonoe, but he said she had died "many years ago".
He was first introduced in the story as a farmer and a friend of Orpheus. Before Orpheus' wedding he tried to calm his friend, recalling his own anxiety in the role of a groom. He then lamented Orpheus' decision to skip a sacrifice to the gods, but was glad to hear there would at least be drinking and dancing.
He was invited to the wedding, where he met Calliope and The Endless. He had already met Eurydice at that point and stated that Orpheus was lucky, and that Eurydice reminded him of his own wife on their wedding day.
During the wedding, after drinking too much wine, Aristaeus asked Eurydice to meet him in a nearby grove for a private conversation. There he tried to force himself on her. Eurydice fought back and then ran away, but she stepped on a snake and was killed by its bite. Overcome with fear and remorse, Aristaeus hurried back to the wedding party to call for help, crying "I meant no harm".
It's unknown what happened to him afterwards, but the short story The Flowers of Romance features an unnamed aging Satyr who may or may not be Aristaeus and is called the last of their kind. It's stated that after death all Satyrs "go to Dream's drear realm".
Personality[]
All Satyrs are described as "creatures of the moment". Desire calls them "my creatures" and says they are "nothing but desire, wrapped in a thin shell of magic and flesh".
Behind the Scenes[]
- Aristaeus is a minor god in Greek mythology, the protector of flocks and shepherds, of vine and olive plantations; he taught men to both hunt and keep bees. Some versions of the myth of Orpheus mention a role in Eurydice's death; in others her assaulter is an unnamed Satyr, so apparently The Sandman combined both versions. Aristaeus' wife, Autonoe is also a mythological figure; she was a Bacchan, and her death occurred after she lost her son to the wrath of the goddess Artemis.