Apulu

Apulu, also syncopated as Aplu, is the Etruscan chthonic sky god, roughly equivalent to the Greco-Roman god Apollo.[3][4][5]

Main article: List of Etruscan mythological figures
Apulu / Aplu
  • God of the Sun and light, thunder and lightning, healing and plague
Member of Novensiles
Apulu on a coin from Populonia.
Other namesRath, Śuri, Usil, Vetis
MountMt. Soratte[1]
Gendermale
RegionItaly
Ethnic groupEtruscans
Personal information
ParentsTinia and Semla[2]
Siblings
ConsortCatha
Equivalents
Greek equivalentApollo Smintheus
Roman equivalentSoranus
Hittite equivalentApaliunas

Apulu is the god of the Sun and light, thunder and lightning, healing and plague, as well as the protector of divination,[6][7] but he also has volcanic and infernal characteristics.[8][9]

He was previously known as Rath,[10] Śuri,[1][11][12] Usil[13] and Vetis,[9] among other names.[14] The name Apulu or Aplu did not come directly from Greece but via a Latin center, probably Palestrina.[6][7][2]

Mentions and iconography

He's mentioned as son of Tinia and Semla, brother of Fufluns and twin brother of Aritimi.[2]

In art, he is depicted with a crown and laurel branches. His most famous representation is the Apollo of Veii, attributed to Vulcas.

He does not appear on the Liver of Piacenza.

In other cultures

Greco-Roman equivalent
Main article: Apollo

The national divinity of the Greeks, Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more.

Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius. Apollo delivered people from epidemics, yet he is also a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague with his arrows. The invention of archery itself is credited to Apollo and his sister Artemis. Apollo is also an important pastoral deity, and was the patron of herdsmen and shepherds. Protection of herds, flocks and crops from diseases, pests and predators were his primary duties.

As the god of mousike,[lower-alpha 1] Apollo presides over all music, songs, dance and poetry. On the other hand, Apollo also encouraged founding new towns and establishment of civil constitution. He is associated with dominion over colonists. He was the giver of laws, and his oracles were consulted before setting laws in a city.

Hittite equivalent
Main article: Apaliunas

Aplu may be related with Apaliunas, who is considered to be the Hittite reflex of *Apeljōn, an early form of the name “Apollo”.[15]

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. Mousike (the art of the Muses) was an integral part of life in the ancient Greek world, and the term covered not only music but also dance, lyrics, theatre and the performance of poetry.

References
  1. Virgil, 11.786.
  2. De Grummond & Simon 2006.
  3. De Grummond & Simon 2006, pp. vii, pp. 73–75.
  4. Bonfante & Bonfante 2002, p. 194.
  5. Jannot 2005, p. 146.
  6. Cristofani 2000, pp. 161–162.
  7. Cristofani 1985, pp. 12–13.
  8. Classical Association 1918, p. 107.
  9. Kenney & Clausen 1983.
  10. Bonfante & Bonfante 2002, p. 204.
  11. Van Der Meer 2013, pp. 323–341.
  12. Myth Index.
  13. Nonoss 2015.
  14. Maras 2010.
  15. John L. Angel; Machteld Johanna Mellink (1986). Troy and the Trojan War: A Symposium Held at Bryn Mawr College, October 1984. Bryn Mawr Commentaries. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-929524-59-7.

Bibliography
  • Bonfante, Giuliano; Bonfante, Larissa (2002) [1983]. The Etruscan Language: An Introduction. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719055409.
  • Classical Association (1918). Postgate, John Percival; Arnold, Edward Vernon; Hall, Frederick William (eds.). Classical Quarterly. Translated by Postgate, John Percival. Clarendon Press. p. 107.
  • Cristofani, Mauro, ed. (2000) [1984]. "Apulu/Aplu". Etruschi: una nuova immagine (in Italian). Florence: Giunti Editore. pp. 161–162. ISBN 9788809017924.
  • Cristofani, Mauro, ed. (1985). "Aplu". Dizionario illustrato della civiltà Etrusca (in Italian). Florence: Giunti Editore. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-88-09-21728-7.
  • De Grummond, Nancy Thomson; Simon, Erika, eds. (2006). The Religion of the Etruscans. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292782334.
  • Maras, Daniele F. (2010). "Suri. Il nero signore degli inferi". Archeo (in Italian). No. 305. Archived from the original on 2014-12-10.
  • Nonoss (2015). "Turan, Aritimi, Usil et l'énigmatique Letham..." Au Fil du Temps (in French). Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  • Jannot, Jean-René (2005). Religion in Ancient Etruria. Translated by Whitehead, J.K. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 9780299208448.
  • Kenney, Edward John; Clausen, Wendell Vernon (1983). The Cambridge History of Classical Literature. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521273732.
  • Van Der Meer, Bouke (2013). "Lead Plaque of Magliano". Interpretando l'antico. Scritti di archeologia offerti a Maria Bonghi Jovino. Quaderni di Acme (134). Milan. pp. 323–341 (335) – via Academia.edu.
  • Virgil. Aeneid. Vol. XI. 786 – via Perseus Digital Library.
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