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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literary works, but also each generation often requires up-to-date renderings,<br />
especially of monsters, who change in conception over time. 90<br />
We can apply the idea of “up-to-date renderings” to the corpus of the theriomorphic and<br />
therianthropic deities and demons. Images and the conception of the divine were not static in<br />
antiquity, and, as we shall see in this study, there was room for striking change. There may not<br />
always be a canonical version of a narrative or image of a god.<br />
A further problem to deal with is the afore-mentioned lack of Etruscan literature. Since<br />
no preserved Etruscan texts offer a mythic narrative for us to follow, we must turn to the visual<br />
sources as our only source for identifying the plot of a myth. This is not always possible with the<br />
remains we possess. As de Grummond states in her recent text, Etruscan Myth, Sacred History<br />
and Legend:<br />
Still, much remains unknown; stories told in representations in art often assume<br />
that the viewer already knows the story, and without a written narrative taking<br />
place in time it is difficult to reconstruct the sequence of an action. 91<br />
Etruscan divinities may be overlooked in general studies of religion and myth since they<br />
seem to be perceived as minor figures compared to the greater, Olympian gods. The<br />
reduplication of figures such as Charu and Pan is one reason for treating theriomorphic and<br />
therianthropic deities and demons as possessing a lesser divine status. The abundance of human-<br />
animal hybrids and other “monsters” that appear in classical myth may have also affected the<br />
way that scholars view these figures. For example, Pan often seems to be treated as a glorified<br />
satyr, and his importance as a rustic divinity is often forgotten. Perhaps, this was even the case<br />
in antiquity since Pan accused the Athenians of ignoring him during the Persian War. 92 Another<br />
factor to consider alongside the conception of their “divine status” is the amount of material that<br />
preserves the memory of these gods and goddesses. When discussing different types of gods<br />
worshipped by the Romans, Beard, North, and Price state that, “Some deities had no closely<br />
defined personality and remained outside the traditions of myth and legend. Although, to us,<br />
they may seem more ‘shadowy’ for that reason, they were not necessarily less important in<br />
Roman times.” 93 Some theriomorphic and therianthropic deities fall in this category; in short<br />
90 Small 2003, 29.<br />
91 De Grummond 2006a, 11.<br />
92 Hdt. 6.105.1.<br />
93 Beard, North, Price 1998, 30.<br />
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