
Though we can read the Etruscan language, we
can't understand it in any detail--for while the alphabet is known (it is derived
from the Greek), the language itself isn't. Most of the inscriptions we do have
are short and confined to tombs or mirrors; any more lengthy literature there
was (and we presume there was quite a bit, as there are mentions of Etruscan
drama) has been lost. Alas, for some of these Goddesses then we have very sparse
information, and sometimes the only reference will be a small handful of inscriptions
on a mirror back. I have done my best.
Some of the Etruscan Goddesses were linked
with Greek ones brought by the settlers of Magna Graecia. I have left out Goddesses
who are primarily Greek Goddesses under an Etruscanized Greek name and who show
very little difference from the Greek original, such as Artumes for Artemis
or Semla for Semele, instead focusing on those who are peculiarly Etruscan.
The Etruscan Pantheon seems to have quite a few Midwives and Fate-Goddesses;
it is also heavy on Underworld Deities and demons. Some accordingly make the
Etruscans a rather gloomy people; however I don't find them so, as their tombs
are decorated with lively scenes that depict people dancing, feasting, playing
drinking games, and enjoying themselves; they seem much like the Egyptians,
who placed such a strong emphasis on the afterlife precisely because they loved
the present one so much that they wanted it to go on forever. Women held a fairly
high status in Etruscan society: take for example Tanaquil,
who was a powerful Queen and seeress; also, in many depictions showing both
men and women (especially on the engraved hand-mirrors), women are drawn as
taller or more central to the composition than the men, or shown as obviously
older with a younger lover. And, there are a couple of Goddesses here and there
who are sometimes referred to as Gods; perhaps their gender changed over time
or with the location of the worship, or maybe it just wasn't that important
to their function.
I have tried to standardize the spellings
of these names, using kh for what is sometimes rendered x or ch
and which corresponds to the Greek letter chi (which looks like an x
but is pronounced like a cat coughing up a hairball--this general sound is also
used extensively in Scots Gaelic, which may be why Maude starts meowing at me
when I practice my Gaelic). Anyhoo:
Akhuvitr, Alpan,
Catha, Cels, Cilens,
Culsu, Cupra, Ethausva,
Evan, Hinthial, Horta,
Lala, Lasa, Leinth,
Losna, Malaviskh, Mean,
Menrfa, Mera, Mlakukh,
Munthukh, Nathum, Nortia,
Tanaquil, Tesana,
Thalna, Thanr, Thesan,
Thufltha, Tiv, Tukhulkha,
Turan, Uni, Usil,
Vanth, Zipanu.