DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14142#0022
20
Latin forms, as Uni for Juno ; Aplu for Apollo; Mnrfa for
Minerva; Herkole, Hercle, for Hercules ; Menele for Me-
nelaus; Clutmnstra for Clytsemnestra. In other cases the
Etruscan equivalent for the Greek name bears no resem-
blance to it, as Tinia for Zeus ; Turan for Venus ; and this
is the case with several names of Deities; while, on the
other hand, the names of the heroes are generally pre-
served in an abridged form, the vowels being omitted and
the terminations cut off. Besides the subjects which may
be easily recognized as popular Greek myths, treated very
much as they are represented on Fictile Vases, we find on
mirrors other subjects and figures which scarcely, if at all,
occur in pure Greek art, and which may be considered as
peculiar to this class of Etruscan works. Such subjects
are the winged figure called Lasa, or the Etruscan Fate,
which sometimes occurs singly, sometimes in combination
with a companion winged figure, or as part of a group; and
the scenes in which the Dioscuri are represented, either
alone or associated with another male, or with one or
more female figures,—thought by Gerhard to refer to the
Cabiri and to the Theophany of Libera. This class of
subjects is distinguished by Gerhard as Hieratic. A few
mirrors present to us scenes from real life, and especially
from the public games.
Most of the designs on mirrors are very loosely and
carelessly drawn, with little care for beauty of composition ;
but in some few cases the drawing is nearly as masterly as
in the finest examples of Ceramography. Very few archaic
mirrors occur, and the greater part belong to the period
■when Greek art was in its decline. Gerhard considers
that most of the extant mirrors were executed in the 4th,
5th, and 6th centuries, a.u.c. (b.c. 454-154). The greater
part were probably produced during the period of Etruscan
independence, though some few may be ascribed to a later
time, when Roman influence prevailed. All the extant
mirrors have been found in tombs, some few inside the
bronze cistae already mentioned, others placed as covers on
the tops of vases or lying separately. There seems no
ground for the supposition that they were used in any of the
Mysteries, as was formerly asserted by archaeologists. On
the other hand, there is evidence from other monuments
to show, that the mirrors found in tombs, if not actually
used by the living before they were consecrated to the
Latin forms, as Uni for Juno ; Aplu for Apollo; Mnrfa for
Minerva; Herkole, Hercle, for Hercules ; Menele for Me-
nelaus; Clutmnstra for Clytsemnestra. In other cases the
Etruscan equivalent for the Greek name bears no resem-
blance to it, as Tinia for Zeus ; Turan for Venus ; and this
is the case with several names of Deities; while, on the
other hand, the names of the heroes are generally pre-
served in an abridged form, the vowels being omitted and
the terminations cut off. Besides the subjects which may
be easily recognized as popular Greek myths, treated very
much as they are represented on Fictile Vases, we find on
mirrors other subjects and figures which scarcely, if at all,
occur in pure Greek art, and which may be considered as
peculiar to this class of Etruscan works. Such subjects
are the winged figure called Lasa, or the Etruscan Fate,
which sometimes occurs singly, sometimes in combination
with a companion winged figure, or as part of a group; and
the scenes in which the Dioscuri are represented, either
alone or associated with another male, or with one or
more female figures,—thought by Gerhard to refer to the
Cabiri and to the Theophany of Libera. This class of
subjects is distinguished by Gerhard as Hieratic. A few
mirrors present to us scenes from real life, and especially
from the public games.
Most of the designs on mirrors are very loosely and
carelessly drawn, with little care for beauty of composition ;
but in some few cases the drawing is nearly as masterly as
in the finest examples of Ceramography. Very few archaic
mirrors occur, and the greater part belong to the period
■when Greek art was in its decline. Gerhard considers
that most of the extant mirrors were executed in the 4th,
5th, and 6th centuries, a.u.c. (b.c. 454-154). The greater
part were probably produced during the period of Etruscan
independence, though some few may be ascribed to a later
time, when Roman influence prevailed. All the extant
mirrors have been found in tombs, some few inside the
bronze cistae already mentioned, others placed as covers on
the tops of vases or lying separately. There seems no
ground for the supposition that they were used in any of the
Mysteries, as was formerly asserted by archaeologists. On
the other hand, there is evidence from other monuments
to show, that the mirrors found in tombs, if not actually
used by the living before they were consecrated to the