In Greek mythology, satyrs are deities of the woods and mountains. They are half-human and half-beast; they usually have a goat’s tail, flanks and hooves.  Satyrs can come in other hybrid human/animal forms, as well. According to William Hansen, “Satyrs are two-legged beings having the lower body of a horse and the upper body of a man.” Satyrs emit of hoarse sound, a mix of the neighing of a horse and the bleating of a goat.

In Greek art the satyrs were represented as a man with horse’s ears and tail. However in Roman representations they are portrayed as having the upper body of a man with a goat’s ears, tail, legs and horns.  Reference: Wikipedia

According to Myths and Legends of Greece and Rome, by E M Berens, satyrs were grotesque and repulsive with flat broad noses, pointed ears, and little horns sprouting from their foreheads, a rough shaggy skin and small goats tails.

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Nymphs were graceful beings who presided over the woods, grottoes, streams and streams etc. They were depicted as beautiful maidens of fairy-like form and robed in more or less shadowy garments.

There were three main classes of nymphs. These were water, mountain and tree or wood nymphs. Reference: Myths and Legends of Greece and Rome by E M Berens 1892 edition.

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Information of Eurydice  in Greek mythology and her depiction in cameos. Although there seems to be plenty of artwork depicting Eurydice, cameos are quite rare. However, when she is found on cameos, she is often depicted with Orpheus or with vipers.

Eurydice was the wife of Orpheus, who loved her dearly; on their wedding day, he played joyful songs as his bride danced through the meadow. One day, Aristaeus saw and pursued Eurydice, who stepped on a viper, was bitten, and died instantly. Distraught, Orpheus played and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and deities wept and told him to travel to the Underworld to retrieve her, which he gladly did. After his music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, his singing so sweet that even the Erinyes wept, he was allowed to take her back to the world of the living. In another version, Orpheus played his lyre to put Cerberus, the guardian of Hades, to sleep, after which Eurydice was allowed to return with Orpheus to the world of the living. Either way, the condition was attached that he must walk in front of her and not look back until both had reached the upper world. Soon he began to doubt that she was there, suspecting that Hades had deceived him. Just as he reached the portals of Hades and daylight, he turned around to gaze on her face, and because Eurydice had not yet crossed the threshold, she vanished back into the Underworld. When Orpheus later was killed by the Maenads at the orders of Dionysus, his soul ended up in the Underworld where he was reunited with Eurydice. Reference: Wikipedia

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There are many legends regarding Ariadne in Greek mythology although it seems Ariadne was a princess of Crete. She was a daughter of King Minos and his Queen, Pasiphaë, and the legacy of the god Zeus (on her father’s side) and the titan Helios (on her mother’s side). She is most commonly known for helping the Greek demigod hero Theseus get through the Labyrinth in Ancient Greece. She became the immortal wife of the god Dionysus after Theseus abandoned her. Her Roman counterpart is Ariana. Reference: Fandom

Ariadne fell in love with the Athenian hero Theseus and, with a thread or glittering jewels, helped him escape the Labyrinth after he slew the Minotaur, a beast half bull and half man that Minos kept in the Labyrinth. Here the legends diverge: she was abandoned by Theseus and hanged herself; or, Theseus carried her to Naxos and left her there to die, and she was rescued by and married the god Dionysus. Reference: Encyclopaedia Britannica

In  cameos and other art, Ariadne is often portrayed with her husband Dionysus. This can be either as the figure of Dionysus or by symbolism. The symbolism can be a panther,  either together in sometimes portrayed with a panther. Panthers were the preferred mount of Dionysus so this is often portrayed with Ariadne. Also, ivy was associated with Dionysus so Ariadne is often portrayed wearing an ivy wreath. Sometimes she is depicted sleeping which probably relates to the legend of Theseus leaving abandoning her while she is sleeping on the shore of Naxos.

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Information on Perseus, the Greek hero who slayed Medusa. In Greek mythology, Perseus is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty, who, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, was the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, as well as the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles. Reference: Wikipedia

Perseus is often portrayed in cameos with the head of Medusa or with Andromeda.

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Medusa was a monster, a Gorgon, generally described as a winged human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Gazers upon her face would turn to stone. Most sources describe her as the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, although the author Hyginus makes her the daughter of Gorgon and Ceto.  According to Hesiod and Aeschylus, she lived and died on an island named Sarpedon, somewhere near Cisthene. The 2nd-century BCE novelist Dionysios Skytobrachion puts her somewhere in Libya, where Herodotus had said the Berbers originated her myth, as part of their religion.

Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head, which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone, as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion. Wikipedia

The mask of Medusa, or Gorgoneion, was believed to ward off evil, as well as to provide properties for renewed life; in Greek mythology the blood of Medusa was believed to bring the dead back to life.

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