According to Kestner, as we have seen, Goethe himself
greatly admired Rousseau, but was not one of his blind worshippers,
and _Satyros_ is a sufficiently cogent proof of the fact. What is
astounding is the means he chose to give point to his ridicule. Herder
is Satyros, the Waldteufel,[140] who is represented as being humanely
received by a hermit (Merck) while suffering from a wounded leg.
Satyros requites his host with coarse abuse of himself and his
religion, flings his crucifix into the neighbouring stream, and steals
a valuable piece of linen cloth. Next by an enchanting melody he
cajoles two maidens, Arsinoe and Psyche (Caroline Flachsland), into
the belief that he is a superhuman being, and Psyche is so overcome
that she submits to his embraces. The people of the neighbourhood
flock to him, see in him a new god, and on his persuasion take to
eating chestnuts, as the natural food of man--the priest of the
community, Hermes, joining in their worship. The hermit appears on the
scene, and on his abusing Satyros for the theft of his crucifix, the
people decide to offer him as a sacrifice to their insulted divinity.
By a stratagem of the wife of Hermes, the hermit is rescued and the
bestiality of Satyros exposed.
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