- Larissa Bonfante –
In Greek mythology and Greek art, Dionysos and Ariadne are almost the only divine
happily married pair. Etruscan art is populated by such affectionate couples as Zeus and
Hera (Tinia and Uni);^33 Dionysos and Ariadne (Fufl uns and Areatha); Leda and Tyndareus
(Latva and Tuntle); and Hades and Persephone (Aita and Phersipnai), rulers of the
Underworld. Satyrs and maenads, frequently shown dancing together (Fig. 20.8), are on
friendlier terms than in Greek art, where lustful satyrs pursue frightened maenads and
nymphs.^34 Vanth and Charu work together as partners.^35 The pairs are not always married
couples or lovers: they can be brother and sister, as in the case of Apollo and Artemis,
or mother and son, like Fufl uns, shown in a tender embrace with his mother, Semla, or
Thetis and Achilles on the early sixth-century bc Monteleone Chariot (Figs 24.7 and
24.8). Often pairs of divinities are made up of a younger male and an older – and larger –
female fi gure: Turan with Atunis, the youthful Fufl uns with his mother.^36 And instead of
the Greek representations of pairs of warriors or male wrestlers, Praenestine bronze cista
handles of the fourth century bc show men and women together, wrestling – recalling
the contest of Peleus and Atalanta – or carrying the body of a dead warrior.^37
Before we leave this mythological world we might mention a peculiar aspect of some
Etruscan divinities. Thalna, Lasa, and a few other deities seem to have no fi xed gender,
but appear as either male or female at various times.^38 Does a representation of the seer
Teiresias, shown with feminine dress and demeanor along with the attributes of a man,
express a special interest in such shifting gender, or is it a picturesque rendering of the
story that he had been turned into a woman and was familiar with both the male and
female sex?^39
Aside from the married couple, we see pairs of women sitting together on some of the
votive terracottas, where they perhaps represent some kind of ceremonial society, or group
of women involved in family rites. The two women riding in a carriage on one of the
plaques from the decoration of the early archaic aristocratic residence at Murlo (Poggio
Civitate) have been interpreted as the bridal party approaching the bride’s future home.^40
CHILDREN, BIRTHS AND BABIESGreek myth had transferred the childbearing function to Zeus. Etruscan mythology
restored it to the mother, and often illustrated family values. Tinia, unlike Zeus, is
usually a faithful husband, often shown with his wife, Uni.^41 On one mirror, a family
group includes Tyndareus and Leda looking fondly at the egg from which the baby Helen
Figure 20.8 Black-fi gure vase. Satyr carrying off a friendly maenad. New York, Metropolitan Museum.
Sixth century bc. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Inv. 22.139.83).