perhaps it is the very lack of moral severity, of any high and heroic ingredient in the character of the faun, that makes it so delightful an object to the human eye and to the frailty of the human heart.the being here represented is endowed with no principle of virtue, and would be incapable of comprehending such; but he would be true and honest by dint of his simplicity.we should expect from him no sacrifice or effort for an abstract cause; there is not an atom of martyr's stuff in all that softened marble; but he has a capacity for strong and warm attachment, and might act devotedly through its impulse, and even die for it at need.it is possible, too, that the faun might be educated through the medium of his emotions, so that the coarser animal portion of his nature might eventually be thrown into the background, though never utterly expelled.
the animal nature, indeed, is a most essential part of the faun's composition; for the characteristics of the brute creation meet and combine with those of humanity in this strange yet true and natural conception of antique poetry and art.praxiteles has subtly diffused throughout hiswork that mute mystery,which so hopelessly perplexes us whenever we attempt to gain an intellectual or sympathetic knowledge of the lower orders of creation.the riddle is indicated, however, only by two definite signs: these are the two ears of the faun, which are leaf shaped, terminating in little peaks, like those of some species of animals.though not so seen in the marble, they are probably to be considered as clothed in fine, downy fur.in the coarser representations of this class of mythological creatures, there is another token of brute kindred,--a certain caudal appendage; which, if the faun of praxiteles must be supposed to possess it at all, is hidden by the lion's skin that forms his garment.the pointed and furry ears, therefore, are the sole indications of his wild, forest nature.