Apulu (), also

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...

as Aplu (), is an epithet of the

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *Etruscan civilization (1st millennium BC) and related things: **Etruscan language ** Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan coins **Etruscan history **Etruscan myt ...

fire god

Śuri Śuri (), Latinized as , was an ancient Etruscan infernal, volcanic and solar fire god, also venerated by other Italic peoples – among them Capenates, Faliscans, Latins and Sabines – and later adopted into ancient Roman religion. He ...

chthonic In Greek mythology, deities referred to as chthonic () or chthonian () were gods or spirits who inhabited the underworld or existed in or under the earth, and were typically associated with death or fertility. The terms "chthonic" and "chthonian" ...

sky god The sky often has important religious significance. Many polytheism, polytheistic religions have deity, deities associated with the sky. The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson's ''Motif-Index o ...

, roughly

equivalent Equivalence or Equivalent may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Album-equivalent unit, a measurement unit in the music industry *Equivalence class (music) *'' Equivalent VIII'', or ''The Bricks'', a minimalist sculpture by Carl Andre *'' Equiva ...

to the

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

god

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. Their names are associated on

Pyrgi Pyrgi (''Pyrgus'' in Etruscan) was originally an ancient Etruscan town and port in Latium, central Italy, to the north-west of Caere. Its location is now occupied by the borough of Santa Severa. It is notable for the discovery here of th ...

inscriptions too. The name Apulu or Aplu did not come directly from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

but via a Latin center, probably

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

. Under the name Apulu, he is known as god of the Sun and light, thunder and lightning, healing and plague, as well as the protector of divination, but he also has volcanic and infernal characteristics. He was also known as Rath,

Usil Usil is the Etruscan god of the sun, shown to be identified with '' Apulu'' (Apollo). His iconic depiction features Usil rising out of the sea, with a fireball in either outstretched hand, on an engraved Etruscan bronze mirror in late Archaic ...

and Vetis, among other names.

Mentions and iconography

He's mentioned as son of

Tinia Tinia (also Tin, Tinh, Tins or Tina) was the sky god and the highest deity in Etruscan religion, equivalent to the Roman Jupiter and the Greek Zeus. However, a primary source from the Roman Varro states that Veltha, not Tins, was the sup ...

and

Semla A , , Swedish eclair, /, , or is a traditional sweet roll made in various forms in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway,

, brother of

Fufluns In Etruscan religion, Fufluns () or Puphluns () was a god of plant life, happiness, wine, health, and growth in all things. He is mentioned twice among the gods listed in the inscriptions of the Liver of Piacenza, being listed among the 16gods that ...

and twin brother of

Aritimi Artume (also called ''Aritimi'', ''Artames'', or ''Artumes'') was an Etruscan goddess who was the mistress of animals, goddess of human assemblies, and hunting deity of Neolithic origin. Etruscans later appropriated the Greek goddess Artemis. Arit ...

. In art, he is depicted with a crown and laurel branches. His most famous representation is the

Apollo of Veii The Apollo of Veii is a life-size painted terracotta Etruscan civilization, Etruscan statue of ''Aplu (deity), Aplu'' (Apollo), designed to be placed at the highest part of a temple. The statue was discovered in the Portonaccio (Veio), Portonacci ...

, attributed to Vulcas. He does not appear on the

Liver of Piacenza The Liver of Piacenza is an Etruscan artifact found in a field on September 26, 1877, near Gossolengo, in the province of Piacenza, Italy, now kept in the Municipal Museum of Piacenza, in the Palazzo Farnese. It is a life-sized bronze model of ...

In other cultures

Greco-Roman equivalent

The national divinity of the Greeks, Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

and light, poetry, and more. Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son

Asclepius Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of Apollo), Coronis, or Arsinoe (Greek myth), Ars ...

. Apollo delivered people from epidemics, yet he is also a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague with his arrows. The invention of archery itself is credited to Apollo and his sister Artemis. Apollo is also an important pastoral deity, and was the patron of herdsmen and shepherds. Protection of herds, flocks and crops from diseases, pests and predators were his primary duties. As the god of ''mousike'', Apollo presides over all music, songs, dance and poetry. On the other hand, Apollo also encouraged founding new towns and establishment of civil constitution. He is associated with dominion over

colonists A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

. He was the giver of laws, and his oracles were consulted before setting laws in a city.

Mentions and iconography

In other cultures

Greco-Roman equivalent

See also

Notes

References

Citations

Works cited

Further reading