Axial. Greece. Goats

Axial. Greece. Goats

The satyrs of early Greek drama:

They I think permitted the audience to vent its pent-up to put "pretense" -- to include supposed reality itself -- on a low, mocking plane.

The very idea of goat-men indicates man's animal nature, hinting at the real motives of men (as in the Freudian unconscious).

Of course, we don't know which came first: the satyrs or the goat prize.

Perhaps tragedy is named for the prize, perhaps for the satyrs.