| Śuri | |
|---|---|
| |
| Member of Novensiles | |
| Major cult center | |
| World | |
| Weapons | volcanic lightning, fire, lava |
| Animals | wolf, goat |
| Symbol | solar disc, halo, bow and arrows, pilum, lead |
| Adherents | Hirpi Sorani |
| Gender | male |
| Region | Italy |
| Ethnic group | Etruscans, Capenates, Faliscans, Latins, Sabines |
| Personal information | |
| Parents | |
| Siblings | |
| Consort | Catha |
| Equivalents | |
| Greek equivalent | Hades + Apollo |
| Roman equivalent | Dīs Pater + Apollo |
| Norse equivalent | Surtr |
Śuri (Etruscan: 𐌉𐌛𐌖𐌑, romanized: Śuri, from Etruscan: 𐌛𐌖𐌑, romanized: Śur, lit. 'black'), later latinized as Soranus, was an ancient Etruscan deity, also venerated by other populations of central Italy (Capenates, Faliscans, Latins and Sabines) and later adopted into ancient Roman religion.
Name and attributes
The theonym[1] Śuri (Etruscan: 𐌉𐌛𐌖𐌑, romanized: Śuri, from Etruscan: 𐌛𐌖𐌑, romanized: Śur, lit. 'black'),[2][3][4][5][6] cognate to Surtr (Old Norse: Surtr, lit. 'black')[7] and latinized as Soranus, means both 'black' and 'from the black [place]', i.e. the Underworld.[2][4][5][6]
Primarily the god of volcanoes and fire, which were associated with the underworld,[8] Śuri also was the chthonic god of the Sun and light,[a] as well as an oracular god, with powers over health and plague;[8] as god of volcanic lightning, he's thought to have been among the Novensiles, the nine Etruscan thunder gods.[3][6]
His sacred animals were wolves and goats.[b]
Epithets and Greco-Roman equivalents
Śuri had many epithets,[3][4] among them Calu,[9][10][4] Manth,[11][3][4] Rath,[3][4][12] Usil[13] and Vetis,[14][4] but also Greco-Roman epithets.
By interpretatio graeca, Śuri was identified with both the underworld god Dīs Pater/Hades (Epic Greek: Ἄϊδης, romanized: Áïdēs; Etruscan: 𐌀𐌕𐌉𐌀, romanized: Aita)[3][4][15][16][8] and the sun god Apollo (Etruscan: 𐌖𐌋𐌖𐌐𐌀, romanized: Apulu);[3][4][17][18][9][8][19] their names are associated on Pyrgi inscriptions too.[20][3] After his cult had been syncretised with Apollo, the Romans also nicknamed him Apollo Soranus[10] or Apollo Soractis.[17]
Worship
Cult centers
The center of his cult was Mount Soracte, a sacred mountain located north of Rome, in an area characterized by deep karst cavities and secondary volcanic phenomena; these phenomena were associated in antiquity with underworld deities,[8] hence the area was sacred to underworld gods, such as the Roman Dīs Pater, with whom Soranus is sometimes identified.[15] Other centers dedicated to this deity were the ancient twin cities of Surina (Soriano) and Surina (Viterbo), in the present-day province of Viterbo, Lazio, and the city of Sorano, in the province of Grosseto, Tuscany.[3][5][6]
Worshippers
The priests of Soranus were called Hirpi Sorani[10][21][5][6] ("wolves of Soranus", from Sabine: hirpus, lit. 'wolf').
Servius has preserved the following legend about them: once, during a sacrifice to Dīs Pater, several wolves ran up to the altar and stole the sacrificial pieces. The shepherds gave chase and ran to a cave – into Mount Soracte – from which such suffocating fumes emanated that those who pursued fell dead. The pestilence that soon spread throughout the country was connected with the death of the shepherds, while the oracle, to whom they turned for advice on how to get rid of the plague, replied that the plague would stop as soon as the inhabitants, like wolves, began to lead a robber life. These people took the name Hirpi Sorani (from Sabine: hirpus, lit. 'wolf') and devoted themselves to the cult of the god Soranus, who was later identified with Dīs Pater due the volcanic properties of the mountain and the underground nature of the god.[15][8]
They were firewalkers; during the ceremonies, they walked on hot coals, holding the entrails of sacrificed goats.[15][18][22][23][6] They were also considered skillful ornithomantists.[8]
During the annual festivities in honor of Apollo Soranus and Feronia, they walked barefoot among burning logs without being burned, for which they were forever released by the Roman Senate from military service and other liturgies.[8] The Lupercalia, in the Roman religion, probably derive from these priests.[10]
Partners
He had two female partners: his Etruscan consort Catha (or Cavatha), goddess of Moon and Underworld;[16][24][3] and his Faliscan sister-in-law Feronia, whose major sanctuary[c] was located near Mount Soracte.[23][19]
See also
- Annotated links
- Dīs Pater – Roman god of the underworld
- Catha (mythology) – Etruscan goddess
- Feronia (mythology) – Italic goddess of wilderness and liberty
- Fufluns – Etruscan god of growth
- Orcus – Roman god of the underworld
- Surtr – Norse mythical character
Notes and references
Notes
References
- ^ De Simone 2012.
- ^ a b Colonna 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j National Etruscan Museum.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Maras 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Di Silvio 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Romano Impero 2021.
- ^ Orchard 1997.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Obnorsky 1900.
- ^ a b Bouke van der Meer 2013, pp. 323–341.
- ^ a b c d Rissanen 2013.
- ^ Colonna 2006, p. 141.
- ^ Bonfante & Bonfante 2002, p. 204.
- ^ Nonoss 2015.
- ^ Kenney & Clausen 1983.
- ^ a b c d Servius 380b, 11.785.
- ^ a b De Grummond 2004, p. 359.
- ^ a b Virgil, 11.786.
- ^ a b Pliny the Elder, 7.2.
- ^ a b Myth Index.
- ^ Colonna 2009, pp. 101–126.
- ^ Di Fazio 2013.
- ^ Silius Italicus, 5.175.
- ^ a b Strabo, 5.
- ^ De Grummond 2008, pp. 422, 425.
Bibliography
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Bonfante, Giuliano; Bonfante, Larissa (2002) [1983]. The Etruscan Language: An Introduction (2 ed.). Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719055409.
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- Pallottino, Massimo (1992a). "Pre-Roman Italy". In Bonnefoy (1992), p. 30.
- Pallottino, Massimo (1992b). "Etruscan Religion". In Bonnefoy (1992), p. 36.
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- Classical Association (1918). Postgate, John Percival; Arnold, Edward Vernon; Hall, Frederick William (eds.). Classical Quarterly. Translated by Postgate, John Percival. Clarendon Press. p. 107.
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- De Grummond, Nancy Thomson (2004). "For the Mother and for the Daughter: Some Thoughts on Dedications from Etruria and Praeneste". Hesperia Supplements. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. 33: 351–370. ISBN 9780876615331. JSTOR 1354077.
- De Grummond, Nancy Thomson (2006). Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. ISBN 9781931707862.
- De Grummond, Nancy Thomson; Simon, Erika, eds. (2006). The Religion of the Etruscans. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292782334.
- Bonfante, Larissa. "Etruscan Inscriptions and Etruscan Religion". In De Grummond & Simon (2006).
- Colonna, Giovanni. "Sacred Architecture and the Religion of the Etruscans". In De Grummond & Simon (2006).
- Krauskopf, Ingrid. "The Grave and Beyond". In De Grummond & Simon (2006), p. vii, pp. 73–75.
- Simon, Erika. "Gods in Harmony: The Etruscan Pantheon". In De Grummond & Simon (2006).
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Sorānus
- Maras, Daniele F. (2010). "Suri. Il nero signore degli inferi". Archeo (in Italian). No. 305. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014.
- Moore, Daniel (2018). "The Etruscan Goddess Catha". Etruscan Studies. 21 (1–2): 58–77. doi:10.1515/etst-2017-0030. S2CID 188353013.
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- Obnorsky, Nikolai Petrovich (1900). "Соран, прозвище Аполлона". Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). Vol. XXXa. Saint Petersburg: Brockhaus–Efron. p. 895.
- Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia. Vol. VII. 2 – via Perseus Digital Library.
- Rissanen, Mika (2013) [2012]. "The Hirpi Sorani and the Wolf Cults of Central Italy". Arctos: Acta Philologica Fennica. Helsinki: Klassillis-filologinen yhdistys. 46. ISSN 0570-734X – via Academia.edu.
- Servius (380). Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil (in Latin). Vol. I–XII. Georgius Thilo – via Perseus Digital Library.
- Servius (380a). Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil (in Latin). Vol. X. 199 – via Perseus Digital Library.
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Virgil. Aeneid. Vol. XI. 786 – via Perseus Digital Library.
Further reading
- Babelon, Ernest (1 January 1963). Description Historique Et Chronologique Des Monnaies de La République Romaine Vulgairement Appelées Monnaies Consulaires (in French). Vol. 1. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781291327748.
- Chhawchharia, Ajai Kumar (2015). The Chariot of God: Dharma Rath. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 9781516953776.
- Dronke, Ursula, ed. (1997). The Poetic Edda: Volume II: Mythological Poems. Translated by Dronke, Ursula. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-811181-9.
- Encyclopedia of World Religions. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2006. p. 803. ISBN 978-159339266-6.
- Hart, George (2005). The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Psychology Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-415-34495-1.
- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2.
- Simek, Rudolf (1993). Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Hall, Angela. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1.
- Sturluson, Snorri (c. 1220). "Gylfaginning". Prose Edda (in Old Norse).
- Sturluson, Snorri (6 April 1995) [1987]. Edda. Translated by Faulkes, Anthony. London: Dent. ISBN 978-0460876162.
- Sturluson, Snorri (1 October 1998). Edda. Translated by Faulkes, Anthony. London: Viking Society for Northern Research University College. ISBN 978-0903521345.
- Sturluson, Snorri (2005). The Prose Edda. Penguin Classics. Translated by Byock, Jesse. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0140447552.
- Tilton, Theodore (1897). The complete Poetical Works of Theodore Tilton in One Volume. London, UK: T. Fisher Unwin. p. 705.
- Vigfússon, Guðbrandur; Powell, Frederick York (1883). Corpus Poeticum Boreale: Court poetry. Vol. II. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. p. 471.
External links
- "Culto di Soranus". Romano Impero (in Italian). July 2021.
- "Soranus". Myth Index. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017.
- "Vediove". Nova Roma: Calendar of Holidays and Festivals.
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This page was last edited on 5 March 2024, at 17:33