Aita (also spelled ''Eita'' in Etruscan inscriptions) is the name of the Etruscan equivalent to the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

, the god of the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld ...

Images

Aita is a relatively late addition to the Etruscan pantheon, appearing in iconography and in Etruscan text beginning in the 4th century BC, and is heavily influenced by his Greek counterpart, Hades. Aita is pictured in only a few instances in Etruscan tomb painting, such as in the Golini Tomb from Orvieto and the tomb of

Orcus II The Tomb of Orcus ( it, Tomba dell'Orco), sometimes called the Tomb of Murina ( it, Tomba dei Murina), is a 4th-century BC Etruscan hypogeum (burial chamber) in Tarquinia, Italy. Discovered in 1868, it displays Hellenistic influences in its r ...

from

Tarquinia Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscans, Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropolis, necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded World ...

. In these tomb paintings, he is shown with his consort Phersipnai, the Etruscan equivalent to the Greek

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld afte ...

. Although Aita is very rarely depicted, he may appear enthroned and sometimes wears a wolf cap, borrowing a key attribute from the earlier Etruscan underworld wolf-deity, named Calu. Other examples of Aita in Etruscan art depict his abduction of Phersipnai. Aside from tomb painting, Aita may be identified in a few examples in other

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, including on a 4th-century painted vase from

Vulci Vulci or Volci (Etruscan: ''Velch'' or ''Velx'', depending on the romanization used) was a rich Etruscan city in what is now northern Lazio, central Italy. As George Dennis wrote, "Vulci is a city whose very name... was scarcely remembered, but ...

, two 2nd century alabaster ash urns from

Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History Volt ...

, and a Red Figure 4th-3rd century Oinochoe.Ingrid Krauskopf. 1988. "Aita/Calu." ''Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae'' IV. pages 394-399.

References

{{Authority control Etruscan mythology Etruscan gods Underworld gods