Apulu

Apulu (Etruscan: 𐌖𐌋𐌖𐌐𐌀), also syncopated as Aplu (Etruscan: 𐌖𐌋𐌐𐌀), is an epithet of the Etruscan fire god Śuri[3][4][1][5][6] as chthonic sky god, roughly equivalent to the Greco-Roman god Apollo.[7][8][9] Their names are associated on Pyrgi inscriptions too.[10][3] The name Apulu or Aplu did not come directly from Greece but via a Latin center, probably Palestrina.[11][12][2]

Apulu
(Aplu)
  • God of the Sun and light, thunder and lightning, healing and plague
Member of Novensiles
Apulu on a coin from Populonia.
Other namesRath, Śuri, Usil, Vetis
MountMt. Soratte[1]
Gendermale
RegionItaly
Ethnic groupEtruscans
Personal information
ParentsTinia and Semla[2]
Siblings
ConsortCatha
Equivalents
Greek equivalentApollo
Roman equivalentSoranus,[3][4][1][5][6] Apollo
Hittite equivalentApaliunas

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,[11][12] but he also has volcanic and infernal characteristics.[13][14]

He was also known as Rath,[15] Usil[16] and Vetis,[14] among other names.[4]

Mentions and iconography

He's mentioned as son of Tinia and Semla, brother of Fufluns and twin brother of Aritimi.[2]

In art, he is depicted with a crown and laurel branches. His most famous representation is the Apollo of Veii, attributed to Vulcas.

He does not appear on the Liver of Piacenza.

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 and light, poetry, and more.

Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius. 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,[lower-alpha 1] 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. He was the giver of laws, and his oracles were consulted before setting laws in a city.

Hittite equivalent

Aplu may be related with Apaliunas, who is considered to be the Hittite reflex of *Apeljōn, an early form of the name “Apollo”.[17]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. Mousike (the art of the Muses) was an integral part of life in the ancient Greek world, and the term covered not only music but also dance, lyrics, theatre and the performance of poetry.

References

  1. Virgil, 11.786.
  2. De Grummond & Simon 2006.
  3. National Etruscan Museum.
  4. Maras 2010.
  5. Van Der Meer 2013, pp. 323–341.
  6. Myth Index.
  7. Krauskopf 2006, pp. vii, pp. 73–75.
  8. Bonfante & Bonfante 2002, p. 194.
  9. Jannot 2005, p. 146.
  10. Colonna 2009, pp. 101–126.
  11. Cristofani 2000, pp. 161–162.
  12. Cristofani 1985, pp. 12–13.
  13. Classical Association 1918, p. 107.
  14. Kenney & Clausen 1983.
  15. Bonfante & Bonfante 2002, p. 204.
  16. Nonoss 2015.
  17. John L. Angel; Machteld Johanna Mellink (1986). Troy and the Trojan War: A Symposium Held at Bryn Mawr College, October 1984. Bryn Mawr Commentaries. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-929524-59-7.

Bibliography

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