DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0425
320
TARQUINIL—The Cemetery.
spirit seem contending for the possession of a soul,—as
where this is pursued by the malignant demon, and hurried
away by the better genius ; sometimes they are acting in
unison—as where they are harnessed to a car, and are
driven by an old man, who may possibly represent the
Minos or Rhadamanthus of the Etruscans, In another
instance a similar pair of antagonist spirits are dragging a
car, on which sits a soul shrouded in a veil.1 We may
conclude they are attending the soul to judgment, for
such was their office, according to the belief of the ancients,
in order that when their charge was arraigned before the
infernal judge, they might confirm or contradict his
pleadings, according to their truth or falsehood.2 When
the good demons have anything in their hands, it is
simply a rod or wand, but the malignant ones have gene-
rally a heavy hammer or mallet, as an emblem of their
destructive character ; and in some instances, probably
after condemnation has been pronounced, they are repre-
sented with these instruments uplifted, threatening wretched
souls who are imploring mercy on their knees. In a
somewhat similar scene, a soul is in the power of two of
these demons, when a good genius interposes and arrests
one of the evil ones by the wing. In another scene the
not be unapt attributes of the evil
demons, for the Furies are described
by -lEsehylus (Eumen. 74, 111, 131,
147, 231, 246) as chasing guilty souls as
hunters chase their prey, and are repre-
sented by other ancient writers as being
winged (Eurip. Orest. 317. Iphig.
Taur. 287. Orph. Hymn. 68. 5. Virg.
Mn. XII. 848) ; and so they are often
represented on Greek and Etruscan
vases, running rapidly with wings both
at their shoulders and ankles. iEschy-
lus (Eumen. 51, 250) however describes
them as wingless.
1 See Ann. Inst. 1837, 2, p. 261.
This is the scene misrepresented by
Mrs. Gray (Sep. Etr. p. 198) as a con-
test between a good and evil spirit for
the possession of a soul, whereas it is
clear that they are, literally as well
as metaphorically, pulling together.
Inghirami (Mon. Etrus. IV. tav. 25)
represents a large amphora on the
car with a draped figure standing
behind it.
2 Plato ap. Apuleium de Deo Socratis,
p. 48. ed. Lutet. 1625.
TARQUINIL—The Cemetery.
spirit seem contending for the possession of a soul,—as
where this is pursued by the malignant demon, and hurried
away by the better genius ; sometimes they are acting in
unison—as where they are harnessed to a car, and are
driven by an old man, who may possibly represent the
Minos or Rhadamanthus of the Etruscans, In another
instance a similar pair of antagonist spirits are dragging a
car, on which sits a soul shrouded in a veil.1 We may
conclude they are attending the soul to judgment, for
such was their office, according to the belief of the ancients,
in order that when their charge was arraigned before the
infernal judge, they might confirm or contradict his
pleadings, according to their truth or falsehood.2 When
the good demons have anything in their hands, it is
simply a rod or wand, but the malignant ones have gene-
rally a heavy hammer or mallet, as an emblem of their
destructive character ; and in some instances, probably
after condemnation has been pronounced, they are repre-
sented with these instruments uplifted, threatening wretched
souls who are imploring mercy on their knees. In a
somewhat similar scene, a soul is in the power of two of
these demons, when a good genius interposes and arrests
one of the evil ones by the wing. In another scene the
not be unapt attributes of the evil
demons, for the Furies are described
by -lEsehylus (Eumen. 74, 111, 131,
147, 231, 246) as chasing guilty souls as
hunters chase their prey, and are repre-
sented by other ancient writers as being
winged (Eurip. Orest. 317. Iphig.
Taur. 287. Orph. Hymn. 68. 5. Virg.
Mn. XII. 848) ; and so they are often
represented on Greek and Etruscan
vases, running rapidly with wings both
at their shoulders and ankles. iEschy-
lus (Eumen. 51, 250) however describes
them as wingless.
1 See Ann. Inst. 1837, 2, p. 261.
This is the scene misrepresented by
Mrs. Gray (Sep. Etr. p. 198) as a con-
test between a good and evil spirit for
the possession of a soul, whereas it is
clear that they are, literally as well
as metaphorically, pulling together.
Inghirami (Mon. Etrus. IV. tav. 25)
represents a large amphora on the
car with a draped figure standing
behind it.
2 Plato ap. Apuleium de Deo Socratis,
p. 48. ed. Lutet. 1625.