- Ingrid Krauskopf –
In spite of the superimposition of the original Etruscan conceptions of gods by
foreign, above all, Greek archetypes and myths, the nature of Etruscan beliefs remained
essentially the same. A good example for this is the representation on a mirror^22 (Fig.
25.5), on which Thetis and Eos/Thesan, the immortal mothers of Achilles and Memnon,
implore Zeus/Tinia that he allot life and victory to their respective sons. In the Greek
myth, Zeus uses a scale^23 for the decision. Tinia, on the other hand, holds two different
thunderbolts in his hands. Memnon will die, which means that the thunderbolt directed
toward Thesan is the Destroyer – it has the typical Etruscan form with a point, whereas
Figure 25.4 Mirror Florence, Mus. Arch. 73798: the sun-god on his quadriga, and, above, returning
in the sun-barque, together with two companions. After Gerhard, ES V pl. 159.Figure 25.5 Mirror Vaticano, Mus. Greg. Etr. 12257; Thetis and Eos/Thesan, the immortal mothers
of Achilles and Memnon, implore Zeus/Tinia for the lives of her sons, Achilles and Memnon. Tinia with
two types of thunderbolts. After Gerhard, ES pl. 396.