- chapter 33: The imagery of tomb objects –
mirror in Florence (Fig. 33.4), which has often been discussed (most recently: Rasmussen
2005, Feruglio 2006), shows Hercle (Herakles) nursing at Uni/Hera’s breast. The subject
is Hercle’s apotheosis (which seems to be explained in the “caption” held by Tinia/Zeus
on the right), but so far little consideration has been given to the female fi gure behind
Uni who demands our attention in being not only the central fi gure but also the only one
who engages the viewer with her eyes. The distinctive hem of her garment also enfolds
the Uni/Hercle group, linking her strongly to it, and the likeliest identifi cation for her is
Hebe, daughter of Uni and Tinia. Her drapery is pulled over her head in the bridal pose
as she awaits her bridegroom, Hercle.
Hebe, goddess of eternal youth and Hercle’s reward for his life of toil and heroism, is
in many ways the pivotal fi gure of this mirror, and one can imagine it originally being
a marriage gift for a young woman and later thought suitable – with its connotations of
immortality – for inclusion in her burial. One can imagine a similar history, involving
actual use before burial, for the New York mirror with Atmite and Alcestei. However, a
red-fi gure skyphos in Boston with the same subject but with a winged demon standing
behind the pair (Brendel 1995: Fig. 271; Beazley 1947: pl. 37) would seem to have
been made especially for the tomb. This must have been the case too with the red-fi gure
pots displaying demons discussed above, and it may be worth pointing out that, on one
of them, the fi gure of the Trojan being sacrifi ced is very reminiscent of a similar scene
painted in the François Tomb at Vulci (Buranelli 1987: 94, Fig. 7). The pot was also
painted at Vulci at very much the same time, in the second half of the fourth century bc.
Sarcophagi and ash-urns need also to be considered, however briefl y, as they are a
necessary part of tomb furniture especially in the later periods. One would expect the
relief scenes shown on their sides to display a funerary fl avor, and of course many do.
For example, the rocky divide between this world and the Underworld is shown on a
number of sarcophagi, including the one belonging to Laris Pulenas at Tarquinia which
Figure 33.4 Mirror with Hercle and Uni, Florence Museo Archeologico
(after E. Gerhard, Etruskische Spiegel V, 60).