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of both humans and beasts. Because the urns all share similar elements, with variations
according to the execution of the artist, I will treat them as a group.
A wolf, wolf-man, or a man wearing a wolf-skin rises from a cylindrical feature, which is
probably a well. The figure is bound by a chain attached to the well or held by some of the other
figures that surround him. On almost every example, a bearded man stands above or near the
wolf-creature, emptying the contents of a patera onto the wolf-man with his right hand. He often
holds a sword in his left hand. To the left of, or surrounding, the bearded figure, are a number of
warriors bearing arms. A Vanth often appears in this scene standing above or near one of the
attendants or soldiers being attacked by the wolf-man. In several examples, an attendant is on
the ground dead or dying.
E. Simon argues that the bearded male wearing a cap and holding a patera is Sisyphos,
who has captured and chained Thanatos. 332 I believe that Simon’s idea is plausible, but it is not
the best choice of the possible interpretations. She identifies one of the figures in the scene as
Ares, the Greek god of war; however, there are no iconographic elements to distinguish this
warrior from any of the others on the ash urn. Another problem with this interpretation, which is
tied to a larger issue, is that Simon has sought a Greek solution to this Etruscan scene. As
mentioned in Chapter One, this trend is all too prevalent in the study of Etruscan myth. 333 While
not as many clearly identifiable Etruscan myths have survived as their Greek counterparts, the
Etruscans no doubt possessed a rich mythology of their own as is indicated by the great many art
objects which preserve visual narratives in addition to the myths recorded in Greek and Roman
texts. An Italian source for the scene on this urn may provide a better match given the number of
artifacts that feature the wolf-man and the significance of the wolf in Italy.
There is yet another interpretation of the scene on these urns, and it is the one that has
been most accepted by scholars even though it seems to me the least likely. This scene was
linked by H. Brunn and G. Körte to a passage in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. 334
The annals record the memory of lightning being coerced or compelled by certain
rites and prayers. There is an old report in Etruria, concerning the coming of the
monster, called Olta and summoned by Porsenna, to the city of Volsinii after it
332 Simon 1997, 454, and Krauskopf 1987, 67. The tale of Sisyphus chaining of Death is not preserved in the Iliad
but in a scholium to Iliad 6.153 and in a fragment of Phrynicus (fr. 119 Jacoby). Hostetter (1978, 264) proposes that
these scenes may be the chaining of Aita-Calu, but he does not propose a narrative to accompany the scene. No
doubt this follows Simon’s interpretation but merely shifts the name from Greek to Etruscan.
333 De Grummond 2006a, xii.
334 Brunn and Körte 1872-1916, 16-24.
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