This image was reflected in the classical Athenian satyr play. Satyr plays were a genre of plays defined by the fact that their choruses were invariably made up of satyrs. These satyrs are always led by Silenus, who is their "father". According to Carl A. Shaw, the chorus of satyrs in a satyr play were "always trying to get a laugh with their animalistic, playfully rowdy, and, above all, sexual behavior." The satyrs play an important role in driving the plot of the production, without any of them actually being the lead role, which was always reserved for a god or tragic hero. Many satyr plays are named for the activity in which the chorus of satyrs engage during the production, such as Δικτυουλκοί ("Diktyoulkoí"; "Net-Haulers"), Θεωροὶ ἢ Ἰσθμιασταί ("Theōroì ē Isthmiastaí"; "Spectators or Competitors at the Isthmian Games"), and Ἰχνευταί ("Ichneutaí"; "Searchers"). Like tragedies, but unlike comedies, satyr plays were set in the distant past and dealt with mythological subjects. The third or second-century BC philosopher Demetrius of Phalerum famously characterized the satiric genre in his treatise "De Elocutione" as the middle ground between tragedy and comedy: a "playful tragedy" (, "tragōdía paízdousa").