Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University
Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University
Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University
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This means of prophecy 553 was one of the Romans’ oldest customs, and the position of augur<br />
held high status. 554<br />
The notion that birds served as a connection between the gods and man can perhaps be<br />
seen in the Etruscan convention of placing wings on prophetic figures. The Chalchas mirror is<br />
one such example (Fig. VI.1). 555 Prophets cross boundaries between the worlds of gods and men<br />
by revealing the intentions of the gods or making predictions of the future. Thus, the presence of<br />
wings may be a metaphorical way of showing a prophet’s ability to open channels between the<br />
mortal and immortal realms. Wings indicate a super-human, perhaps even divine, nature, 556 and<br />
the sprouting of wings from the back of a prophet situates him/her amongst the ranks of<br />
divinities such as Lasas, Vanths, and other spirits who bear such a mark. To further demonstrate<br />
the possibility of associating wings with prophecy and fate, one might consider the figure of<br />
Athrpa, who also appears on an engraved Etruscan mirror (Fig. VI.2). Athrpa has been<br />
interpreted as the Etruscan equivalent of the Greek Atropos, the Fate who cuts the cord of life<br />
and determines that it is a mortal’s time to die. 557 Wings, serving as visual signifiers to indicate a<br />
figure who has transcended the normal boundaries of nature, 558 are appropriate on this mirror<br />
which demonstrates the fruition of divine will and the bearing out of future events through the<br />
fated deaths of Atunis and Meleacr.<br />
In addition to winged prophets who might interpret or pronounce omens, Italy also<br />
possessed at least one oracular shrine in which an actual bird, in this case a woodpecker, gave<br />
oracles. The woodpecker, often identified as the Picus martius, 559 was a highly auspicious bird<br />
553 For a distinction between the terms prophecy and divination, see De Grummondb 2006, 27.<br />
554 De Grummond (2006c, 41-2) notes both the evident importance of augury in Etruscan religion and the need for<br />
more research in this area.<br />
555 This mirror serves as yet another example of how the Etruscans adopted and also modified Greek myth.<br />
Chalchas was the seer who assigned Agamemnon the task of sacrificing Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis in order<br />
that the winds might blow and allow the Greek fleet to sail against Troy. (For the prophecy of Chalchas see Hom. Il.<br />
2.308-29, for the death of Iphigenia as a result of his oracles see Aesch. Ag. 156-9, 248-9, 1521-30.) In this<br />
instance, he uses a technique of divination that was prominent in Etruria and the Near East, hepatoscopy, and is also<br />
winged, possibly an indicator of divine nature. De Grummond (2006, 54-5) also notes that this is not how Chalchas<br />
is presented in the Iliad in which he consults the will of the gods by studying the actions of snakes and birds. The<br />
wings may also be an indicator that he is a mediator between the mortal and divine realms as birds may fly among<br />
the clouds as well as walk on the ground. A winged creature belongs to two different spheres.<br />
556 De Grummond 2006a, 31. A further example of a winged divinity is discussed by de Grummond (2006a, 6), who<br />
notes the presence of a “Master of Birds” depicted as a winged male with bird perched on his outstretched wings.<br />
557 De Grummond 2006a, 20; von Vacano 1960, 9-13.<br />
558 Kerényi 1976, 81.<br />
559 Plin. HN. X.40; Mackay (1975, 272) discusses the problem of identifying the exact species of woodpecker<br />
described by the literary sources.<br />
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