Marsyas, in Greek myth, a satyr or silenus associated with the river of that name (a tributary of the Maeander in Asia Minor), who picked up the flute which the goddess Athena had invented but had thrown away because it distorted the player's face. He became so proficient a player that he challenged Apollo to a musical contest (Apollo playing the lyre), with the Muses as judges. It was agreed that the victor should do what he pleased to the other, and when Apollo was judged victor he tied Marsyas to a tree and flayed him alive. The river sprang from his blood or the tears of his mourners.

Louvre, Paris.