Mezentius
Sign in to saveright|thumb|Mezentius wounded, preserved by his intrepid son Lausus, first prize of the Prix de Rome by [[Louis-Léon Cugnot, 1859]]
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right|thumb|Mezentius wounded, preserved by his intrepid son Lausus, first prize of the Prix de Rome by [[Louis-Léon Cugnot, 1859]]
In Roman mythology, Mezentius was an Etruscan king, and father of Lausus. Sent into exile because of his cruelty, he moved to Latium. He reveled in bloodshed and was overwhelmingly savage on the battlefield, but more significantly to a Roman audience he was a contemptor divum, a "despiser of the gods."