Announcer: This is a Getty
podcast.
Host: Signed, sealed, delivered—today a special gem
shares some important news!
Welcome to If Objects Could Talk, a podcast where art
and artifacts get to leave the museum vault and tell
their side of the story.
Thanks for joining us as we bring objects into the light!
How would your best friend describe you?
Are you responsible?
A party animal?
Maybe a little bit of both?
Well today we meet a satyr who is half man, half
goat, and all storyteller.
Satyrs are mythical woodland creatures known for their love
of parties—and for playing the occasional trick on people.
Our guest might love a good time, but he can be serious
when he needs to be, because he had an important job
to do: sealing letters and official documents in wax.
Before tape or that weird envelope glue you have to
lick, wax and seals kept private papers private.
OK, enough background, let's get this podcast party started!
Satyr: Whoa, dudes, most excellent to make
your acquaintance.
It’s a really big deal to be here.
No one ever lets me talk.
Apparently, I have a gnarly accent.
I’ll need to be done in like ten because it’s my turn
to DJ, and I can finally play some sweet oldies.
Speaking of oldies, let's talk about me!
I’m carved into an oval-shaped gemstone, over
two thousand years old.
I’m made of cornelian which is a type of red-orange
gem or maybe orange-red?
Anyway, my gem is about the size of a small
button on a fancy shirt.
One side of the gemstone is me!
I’m a Satyr, which is absolutely so sick.
I’ve got the head and torso of a dude, but the legs of
a goat and the ears, tail, and horns of a goat, too!
Ha-ha nice!
Gimmie five man.
I think the gem engraver got my good side.
I’m doing this cool satyr dance called sikinnis.
I’m just kinda prancing around like a goat.
Satyrs are nature spirits known for having a good time,
so it absolutely checks out that I’d be busting a move.
The scene of me dancing is framed by a dotted border
which is a nice touch.
But wait!
There’s more!
On my opposite side, the gemstone is shaped
like a scarab beetle.
Say “what's up?”, beetle buddy!
Scarab: [buzzing] How do you do?
Satyr: Bro!
I love that guy!
Scarabs represent protection, which I need, because sometimes
I like to have a little too much fun playing tricks, and my
little beetle buddy is always coming in clutch with the assist
before I land in hot water...or should I say hot wax?!
Right, dude?
Scarab: Indubitably.
Satyr: Aw, was that a sneeze?
Bless you, beetle buddy!
Me and the scarab weren't just created to look
good—which would be totally fair—we also had a job.
We had to seal important messages so that A: recipients
knew the messages were from a specific person and 2: the
message was secure like a vault!
If the seal was broken, you’d know someone had peeked inside!
Totally bogus.
Because the scarab was the protection side, he was the
one worn facing out on a ring.
When a message or document needed to be sealed,
the gem flipped, and the engraved side—me—was
stamped in the hot wax.
I didn’t like that part, dude.
Not cool, very hot actually!
Yep, that’s probably why I’m leaping and twirling, because
I’m doing my “too hot” dance!
Yeah, I’ve been in Cali for awhile, but I'm originally
from Etruria, a pre-Roman civilization from around the
areas where Tuscany is today.
Geographically, it’s the top of the Italian boot
and dooooooown the middle.
[laughs] The Etruscans were so awesome.
Lots things you love about the Romans?
They got it from the Etruscans.
Gladiator games!
Togas!
Divination using animal organs!
The Etruscans did it first.
Yeah, even that!
The military celebration after a triumph in battle
is soooooo Etruscan, dude.
We may have been first in those things, but everybody borrows
from everybody, especially if you’re on a trade route like
many parts of Etruria were.
My little beetle buddy?
Totally Egyptian, dude.
Yep, brought to Etruria by way of the Greeks and Phoenicians.
Hey, I’ve got a great idea!
Let’s talk about how we were made!
Oh, it’s so sick, bro.
Check this out:
First a gem was selected and cut into a small shape.
The Etruscans liked cornelian because it’s gorgeous and
it didn’t stick to the hot wax when sealing a document.
They used teeny tiny drills—like hand-powered ones, not electric
or battery powered like you might have at home—and
dipped them into a mixture of olive oil and powder
made from even harder gems.
This let the craftsmen carve the stone in the finest detail.
The carving on the underside of the gemstone, which would rest
against the body, was called an intaglio, or sunken image.
These scenes were usually mythological heroes
or creatures like me!
Scarab gemstones could be unique to the wearer
and would highlight a family’s name or specific
characteristics of the owner.
My guy was a party animal, so that tracks!
I'm curious, if you wrote a message to someone, and you
didn’t use your name on the paper, how would they, like,
know the message was from you?
What would your seal be?
Maybe a mermaid because you love to swim?
Or a cookie because you could eat those for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
Whoa, let's just take a second to think about
all the possibilities.
Now, can you draw your new seal?
Then you can write a letter to a friend or family member
telling them about your seal and why it represents you.
Speaking of being yourself, let me tell you about
Velia and her Uncle Nico.
Now, Nico knew how to have a good time.
He was the life of the party, dude, like me!
Nico was the proud uncle of a lovely niece, Velia.
She was the ambitious, hardworking type.
Velia hoped to be a model Etruscan woman when she
grew up—maybe buy some property, head up her own
family, and even speak loudly at the occasional party.
Those Etruscan women could be powerful, dude!
For Velia’s twelfth birthday, all she really wanted was
for her uncle to do an honest day’s work...and a donkey.
They could use one on their family farm.
But she didn’t want just any donkey.
She wanted a donkey that she had seen a few months ago
when traveling for a wedding.
The donkey lived nearly half a day’s journey away!
She made her birthday request complicated on purpose, bro!
She tasked Uncle Nico with getting her the donkey, and with
her parents’ permission, she planned on making the trip, too.
Several days later, and armed with a bill of exchange sealed
by yours truly, Velia and Uncle Nico set off to get that
beast of burden in exchange for two old, fluffy sheep.
Me and Beetle Buddy went with them.
Etruscans traded between cities all the time so we just
followed the Etruscan road!
Velia was like, so impressed with her Uncle for being willing
to make this birthday trip.
He regaled her with tales of the cities he had traveled
to, and she taught him that it was probably not a
good idea to eat just any berry he found on a bush.
Half-way through, they were ready for a rest stop.
So they moved off the road and snacked on the figs
and olives they’d brought.
Your classic ancient road trip snacks.
Then Uncle
Nico daydreamed a while.
Velia took a little nap and dream-dreamed.
Peaceful, you know?
But, it wouldn't be a good story if there wasn't a
little bit of drama right?
So I decided to play a little game of hide the
sheep and encouraged one to go for a little walkabout.
[laughs] It was going to be so funny to see them
looking for that fluffy guy!
I love a harmless prank on the open road!
Velia woke up and noticed that they were down a
sheep, and boy was she mad!
She totally blamed her uncle who could have easily watched
the clouds and the sheep!
With one sheep, one uncle, and one dashing satyr-scarab
duo, Velia led the charge to find the missing sheep.
At the edge of the clearing where they had been resting
was a deep, dark forest.
With the lost sheep nowhere in sight, Velia, true Etrsucan
leader that she was, figured it was time to check the forest.
Velia and Uncle Nico were deep into their search when all of
a sudden we heard rustling.
We all got pretty excited because we figured it was that
fluffy sheep and we could grab him and laugh at my funny trick.
Not so, my dudes.
It was a wild boar.
A big one!
The boar stared at us and we stared at him.
The boar charged and Uncle Nico and Velia ran
as fast as they could.
As they neared the forest’s edge, Velia grabbed Uncle Nico's
hand and pointed at the steep rocks ahead past the clearing.
They just had to reach higher ground!
Boars are notoriously bad rock climbers.
Once they made it to the rocks, Uncle Nico climbed
up first and then yanked up Velia by the arm, but the
boar was still right there at the bottom waiting for them!
Nico thought fast and threw down his figs and a sliver
of Velia's birthday honey cake he’d been saving.
The boar devoured them in seconds and then left!
It’s like all it wanted was a little treat!
Insane!
Velia
looked at her Uncle differently from then on.
He wasn’t just a cool, if somewhat irresponsible,
party animal.
He was the guy who stayed calm in a crisis and
could think on his feet.
And he was also the Uncle willing to make sure
she got exactly what she wanted for her birthday.
At this point, all she wanted was to go home.
They could check out the donkeys in the neighborhood.
Oh, you wanna know what happened to the lost sheep?
Ha, dude!
From the rock formation they spotted him easily, on the other
side of the rock fast asleep.
So much for my “harmless prank,” right? We never even
had to go into that forest! I did feel bad, but I learned
a valuable lesson: don’t play hide the sheep on a
business slash birthday trip!
Well hey, this has been totally chill, but it’s
time to play my set, dude.
Maybe next time you can come sit in on a sesh.
Later!
Host: I hope you enjoyed learning about satyrs and
Etruria!
Join us next time when a horse unlocks a mystery.
To see photographs of the satyr gem and learn more,
visit our website at Getty dot edu slash podcasts.
This episode was written by Tocarra Elise and
produced by Zoe Goldman.
Isaac Robinson-Smith voiced the satyr.
Theme music, mixing and sound design by Alexandra Kalinowski.
Christopher Sprinkle is executive producer.
Special thanks to curators Ken Lapatin, Judith
Barr, and Hana Sugioka.
Catch you next time!