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Marsyas under Apollo's punishment; İstanbul Archaeology Museum (source & permission: Ark. Ali Güneygül).

In Greek mythology, Marsyas was a satyr who challenged Apollo to a contest of music and lost his hide and life.

He was purportedly born in Celaenae (or Kelainai) in Phrygia (today, the town of Dinar in Turkey) at the main source of the Meander (the river Menderes). Marsyas was an expert player on the double-piped reed instrument pipe known as the aulos. He found the instrument on the ground where it had been tossed by its inventor Athena, after the other gods made sport of how her cheeks bulged when she played.

In the contest between Apollo and Marsyas, the terms stated that the winner could treat the defeated party any way he wanted. Since the contest was judged by the Muses, Marsyas naturally lost and was flayed alive in a cave near Celaenae for his hubris to challenge a god. Apollo then nailed Marsyas' skin to a tree, near Lake Aulocrene (Karakuyu Gölü). His brothers, nymphs, gods and goddesses mourned his death and their tears turned into the river Marsyas (in west-central Turkey, which joins the Menderes river (Meander) near Celaenae),[1] according to the book Metamorphoses by Ovid.

(See also: The Ancient Library).

There are several versions of the contest; according to some Marsyas was departing as victor when Apollo, turning his lyre upside down, played the same tune. This was something that Marsyas could not do with his flute. According to another version Marsyas was defeated when Apollo added his voice to the sound of the lyre. Marsyas protested, arguing that the skill with the instrument was to be compared, not the voice. However, Apollo replied that when Marsyas blew into the pipes, he was doing almost the same thing as himself. The Muses supported Apollo's claim, leading to his victory.

5th c. statue of Athena and Marsyas by Myron in Botanic Garden, Copenhagen, Denmark

In the art of later periods, Marsyas is often seen with a flute, pan pipes or even bagpipes. Apollo is shown with his lyre, or sometimes a harp, viol or other stringed instrument. The contest of Apollo and Marsyas is seen as symbolizing the eternal struggle between the Apollonian and Dionysian aspects of human nature.

There are some paintings about this subject: "Apollo and Marsyas" (c. 1540) by Michelangelo Anselmi, "Apollo skinning Marsyas" by Jose de Ribera and "The Flaying of Marsyas" by Titian (c. 1570-1576).

James Merrill wrote a poem, "Marsyas," based on this myth; it appears in The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace.

There is a bridge built towards the end of the Roman period on the river Marsyas that is still called under the satyr's name (Marsiyas) A. Güneygül on Archaeology

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