Etruscan religion Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and religion. As the Et ...

, Fufluns ( ett, 𐌚𐌖𐌚𐌋𐌖𐌍𐌔) or Puphluns ( ett, 𐌐𐌖𐌘𐌋𐌖𐌍𐌔) 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 16 gods that rule the Etruscan astrological houses. He is the 9th of those 16 gods.Thomson, De Grummond Nancy, Myth and Sacred History, 2006, p. 113 He is the son of

Semla A semla, vastlakukkel, laskiaispulla, fastlagsbulle/fastelavnsbolle or vēja kūkas is a traditional sweet roll made in various forms in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Latvia, associated with Lent and e ...

and the god

Tinia In Etruscan religion and mythology, Tinia (also Tin, Tinh, Tins or ''Tina'') was the god of the sky and the highest god in Etruscan mythology, equivalent to the Roman Jupiter and the Greek Zeus. However, a primary source from the Roman Var ...

. He was worshipped at Populonia (Etruscan ''Fufluna'' or ''Pupluna'') and is the namesake of that town. His Greek equivalent is

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

(Latin Bacchus), whereas his Roman equivalent is

Liber In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's plebeians and was part of the ...

. For this reason he was also called Fufluns Pachies or Pacha. He was adopted by the Romans but was quickly meshed with Bacchus and his rituals were changed heavily by the influence of Dionysian frenzies.

Iconography

Fufluns is usually depicted as a beardless youth, but is sometimes rarely shown as an older, bearded man. Fufluns was shown in art with the

thyrsus A thyrsus /ˈθɜːrsəs/ or thyrsos /ˈθɜːrˌsɒs/ (Ancient Greek: θύρσος) was a wand or staff of giant fennel (''Ferula communis'') covered with ivy vines and leaves, sometimes wound with taeniae and topped with a pine cone, arti ...

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exa ...

maenad In Greek mythology, maenads (; grc, μαινάδες ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones". Maenads were known as Bassarids, ...

s, and other apotropaic symbols. Fufluns is associated with several other deities in art, including Apulu (

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

) who is considered his brother and his mother Semla. In association with them, Fufluns was sometimes seen as a

chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...

deity associated with the underworld and a

psychopomp Psychopomps (from the Greek word , , literally meaning the 'guide of souls') are supernatural creatures, spirits, entities, angels, demons or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afte ...

that guided and protected souls. Fufluns was additionally associated with a purely Etruscan goddess named Catha. Illustrerad Verldshistoria band II Ill 008

Illustrerad Verldshistoria band II Ill 008

Myths

Fufluns shares many myths with Dionysus, including the story of his birth, which parallels the story of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, ...

and Semele.Thomson, De Grummond Nancy, Myth and Sacred History, 2006, p. 116 Like that myth, the pregnant Semla is killed by Tinia in the form of lightning bolt, who then continues to bear Fufluns by sewing the infant into his thigh and later giving birth to him. However, Semla continues to appear in artwork in association with an adult Fufluns after her death, indicating either a resurrection or immortalization of his mother. Additionally, Fufluns’s connection to his mother is sometimes cast as romantic, as seen in artwork that shows them in an embrace used elsewhere in Etruscan artwork to indicate erotic entanglement. Another depiction of a lost myth regarding Fufluns depicts his relationship with Areatha, the Etruscan form of

Ariadne Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for havin ...

. The bronze mirror shows Fufluns and Areatha but also includes additional figures that are not part of the Greek version of the myth, namely Castur (the Etruscan Castor), a male figure called Eiasun (

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek mythology, mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was marri ...

) and a small winged figure identified as Aminth, who is attributed as the personification of love.Thomson, de Grummond Nancy, Myth and Sacred History, 2006, p. 119 The implications of the scene are based on a myth that is no longer recorded, but indicate some disagreement between Eiasun and Fufluns in which Areatha is involved. The myth of Fuflun and Areatha itself follows the traditional Greek myth, in which Areatha is abandoned by

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

after helping him escape the labyrinth of Minos. Fufluns then finds Areatha and falls in love with her, and they later marry.Bonfante and Swaddling, 2006, p. 41

Notes

References

* Bonfante, Larissa, and Judith Swaddling. (2006). ''Etruscan Myths''. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. * Bonfante, Larissa. (2015). Etruscan mirrors and the grave. In ''L’écriture Et L’espace De La Mort. Épigraphie Et Nécropoles à L'époque *Préromaine'', edited by Marie-Laurence Haack. Rome, IT: Publications De L’École Française De Rome, 2015. Accessed 22 November 2016. http://books.openedition.org/efr/2741?lang=en. * Paleothodoros, Dimitris. (2007). Dionysiac imagery in archaic Etruria. ''Etruscan Studies'', ''10''(1) (1 January 2007)
doi:10.1515/etst.2004.10.1.187
Accessed 22 November 2016. * Thomson, De Grummond Nancy. (2006). ''Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend''. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. * Thomson, De Grummond Nancy, and Erika Simon. (2006). ''The Religion of the Etruscans''. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. {{Authority control Etruscan gods Etruscan religion Health gods Fertility gods Nature gods