Aita

Aita (also spelled Eita in Etruscan inscriptions) is the name of the Etruscan equivalent to the Greek Hades, the god of the underworld.[1]

For other uses, see Aita (disambiguation).
Tomba Golini, Orvieto

Images

Aita is a relatively late addition to the Etruscan pantheon, appearing in iconography and in Etruscan text beginning in the 4th century BC, and is heavily influenced by his Greek counterpart, Hades.[2][3] Aita is pictured in only a few instances in Etruscan tomb painting, such as in the Golini Tomb from Orvieto and the tomb of Orcus II from Tarquinia.[4] In these tomb paintings, he is shown with his consort Persipnei, the Etruscan equivalent to the Greek Persephone.[5]

Although Aita is rarely depicted, he may appear enthroned and sometimes wears a wolf cap, borrowing a key attribute from the earlier Etruscan underworld wolf-deity, named Calu.[6] Other examples of Aita in Etruscan art depict his abduction of Persipnei. Aside from tomb painting, Aita may be identified in a few examples in other media, including on a 4th century painted vase from Vulci, two 2nd century alabaster ash urns from Volterra, and a Red Figure 4th-3rd century Oinochoe.[7]


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References
  1. De Grummond, 2006. Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Page 231.
  2. Jean-René Jannot, 2005. Religion in Ancient Etruria. University of Wisconsin Press. Pages 153-154.
  3. Helmut Rix, 1991. Etruskische Texte. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.
  4. De Grummond, 2006. Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Pages 229-231.
  5. Jean-René Jannot, Religion in Ancient Etruria. University of Wisconsin Press. Pages 66-67, 153-154.
  6. J. Elliott, “The Etruscan Wolfman in Myth and Ritual”. Etruscan Studies Vol 2 1995. pages 17-33.
  7. Ingrid Krauskopf. 1988. "Aita/Calu." Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae IV. pages 394-399.
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