Etruscan religion

thumb|A Christmas wreath on a house door in England. thumb|upright|A golden wreath and ring from the burial of an Odrysian Aristocrat at the Golyamata Mogila in the [[Yambol region of Bulgaria. Mid 4th century BC.]]

thumb|upright=1.2|The Liver of Piacenza, a bronze diagram of the sheep's liver found near [[Piacenza with Etruscan inscriptions]]

thumb|Etruscan inscription TINIA on an altar stone from Volsinii Tinia (also Tin, Tinh, Tins or Tina) was the sky god and the highest deity in Etruscan religion, equivalent to the Roman Jupiter and the Greek Zeus.

Etruscan goddess of love and marriage

Menrva (also spelled Menerva or Menfra) was an Etruscan goddess of war, art, wisdom, and medicine. She contributed much of her character to the Roman Minerva. She was the child of Uni and Tinia.

thumb|Foundation of Etruscan temple at Tarquinia, scene of the Tages legend. thumb|Furrows of the arable land in Umbria

In Etruscan religion, Fufluns () or Puphluns () 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 16gods that rule the Etruscan astrological houses. He is the 9th of those 16gods. He is the son of Semla and the god Tinia. He was worshipped at Populonia (Etruscan Fufluna or Pupluna) and is the namesake of that town.

In Etruscan mythology, Voltumna or Veltha was the chthonic (relating to or inhabiting the underworld) deity, who became the supreme god of the Etruscan pantheon, the deus Etruriae princeps, according to Varro. Voltumna's cult was centered in Volsini (modern-day Orvieto), a city of the Etruscan civilization of central Italy. Voltumna is shown with contrasting characteristics, such as a maleficent monster, a chthonic vegetation god of uncertain sex, or a mighty war god.

In Etruscan mythology and religion, Laran (or Larun) is the god of war. In art, he was portrayed as a naked youth wearing a helmet, a cuirass and carrying a spear, shield, or lance. Laran also appears to be an underworld god. Among his attributes is his responsibility to maintain peace. According to some scholars, he also seems to have been the guardian of boundaries as shown by the boundary cippi found in Bettona with the inscriptions tular Larna and tular larns. Along with eight other Etruscan gods, he can wield lightning. Due to the Tabula Capuana we know that the Laran festival was celebra

In Etruscan religion and myth, Thalna was a divine figure usually regarded as a goddess of childbirth. Determinate gender, however, is not necessarily a characteristic of Etruscan deities, and Thalna is also either depicted as male, or seems to be identified as a male figure because of the placement of names around a scene. Her other functions include friendship and prophecy. Her name may mean "growth, bloom." She appears in Etruscan art in the company of Turan, Tinia, and Menrva.

In Etruscan religion and mythology, Thesan is the goddess of the dawn. In Etruria, she was worshipped at Caere's harbour of Pyrgi, where a temple was dedicated to her and a singular series of "daybreak antefixes" was excavated. She received offerings alongside the sun god Usil, as escribed in the liber linteus. In art, Thesan was typically depicted with wings, and sometimes in the nude.

Nortia is the Latinized name of the Etruscan goddess Nurtia (variant manuscript readings include Norcia, Norsia, Nercia, and Nyrtia), whose sphere of influence was time, fate, destiny, and chance.

thumb|A typical depiction of Charun. From an Etruscan red-figure calyx-crater. End of the 4th century BC-beginning of the 3rd century BC. thumb|The other side of the same artifact, depicting Ajax killing a Trojan prisoner in front of Charun. In Etruscan mythology, Charun (also spelled Charu, or Karun) acted as one of the psychopompoi of the underworld (not to be confused with the god of the underworld, known to the Etruscans as Aita). He is often portrayed with Vanth, a winged figure also associated with the underworld.

polytheistic religion practised in ancient Etruria

thumb|Bronze Selvans statuette in Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca, Cortona, IT In Etruscan mythology and religion, Selvans is god of the woodlands and boundaries, including sacred boundaries. He is possibly cognate with Roman Silvanus. As the god of boundaries, he is known by the epithet tularias as stated by a dedication of a statue to the god. His name is 10th on the list of 16 gods on the outer rim of the Piacenza Liver (a bronze model of a sheep’s liver used as a reference or teaching tool for divination). Votive inscriptions from the liver show that he was a popular god in Etruria.

In Etruscan religion, Hercle (also Heracle or Hercl), the son of Tinia and Uni, was a version of the Greek Heracles, depicted as a muscular figure often carrying a club and wearing a lionskin. He is a popular subject in Etruscan art, particularly bronze mirrors, which show him engaged in adventures not known from the Greek myths of Heracles or the Roman and later classical myths of Hercules.

god in Etruscan mythology

Roman writer and critic of Julius Caesar

In Etruscan mythology, Persipnei or Phersipnai (later Ferspnai) was the queen of the underworld and equivalent to the Greek goddess Persephone and Roman Proserpina. Persipnei was the consort of the divine ruler of the underworld, Aita. Together, both of these deities ruled the Etruscan underworld, which was guarded by Mantus and Mania. Indeed, her name was borrowed by the Etruscans from the Greeks.

Calu () is an epithet of the Etruscan chthonic fire god Śuri as god of the underworld, roughly equivalent to the Greek god Hades (; ); moreover, as with Hades, this god-name was also used as a synonym for the underworld itself.

ancient shrine of the Etruscans

archaeological site in Capena, Italy

Vegoia (Etruscan: Vecu) is a sibyl, prophet, or nymph within the Etruscan religious framework. She is identified as the author of parts of their large and complex set of sacred books, detailing the religiously correct methods of founding cities and shrines, draining fields, formulating laws and ordinances, measuring space and dividing time; she initiated the Etruscan people to the arts, as originating the rules and rituals of land marking, and as presiding over the observance, respect, and preservation of boundaries.

Etruscan deities