The associations of his home, not far from Corinth, where Arion was said to have established the cyclic choruses of satyrs, may account for his preference for this kind of drama.
The little satyrs have stolen his lance - a joke to show that he is now disarmed.
In art he generally appears as a little pot-bellied old man, with a snub nose and a bald head, riding on an ass and supported by satyrs; or he is depicted lying asleep on his wine-skin, which he sometimes bestrides.
Most commonly Ariadne is represented asleep on the shore at Naxos, while Dionysus, attended by satyrs and bacchanals, gazes admiringly upon her; sometimes they are seated side by side under a spreading vine.
Harrison and others identify them with the Satyri (Satyrs), the attendants and companions of Dionysus in his revels, and also with the Centaurs.