Origins. Aristotle implies that Satyrs—men dressed up as the mythical hybrids who combined human with animal features —were associated with the origins of Tragedy. However all available evidence suggests that Tragedy actually predates the Satyr play as a formal dramatic type. The first Satyr plays are attributed to the obscure figure of Pratinas of Phleius, who seems to have been a contemporary of Aeschylus; certainly, Satyr plays were fully established by the time dramatic records begin in 472 B.C.E. Those records indicate that, during the period of extant Greek tragedy, tragedians at Athens' major dramatic festival were required to present one Satyr play as well as three tragedies; in most cases these four plays were not related narratively to each other. Scholars know of only one exception to this requirement: in 438 B.C.E., Euripides produced for his fourth play...