Apulu

Apulu
(Aplu)
Apulu (Aplu)
God of the Sun and light, thunder and lightning, healing and plague;
Member of Novensiles
	Apulu on a coin from Populonia.
Other names	Rath, Śuri, Usil, Vetis
Mount	Mt. Soratte
Gender	male
Region	Italy
Ethnic group	Etruscans
Genealogy
Parents	Tinia and Semla
Siblings	Fufluns; Artume;
Consort	Catha
Equivalents
Greek	Apollo
Roman	Apollo Soranus
Hittite	Apaliunas

Apulu (Etruscan: 𐌖𐌋𐌖𐌐𐌀), also syncopated as Aplu (Etruscan: 𐌖𐌋𐌐𐌀), is an epithet of the Etruscan fire god Śuri^[3]^[4]^[1]^[5]^[6] as chthonic sky god, roughly equivalent to the Greco-Roman god Apollo.^[7]^[8]^[9] Their names are associated on Pyrgi inscriptions too.^[10]^[3] The name Apulu or Aplu did not come directly from Greece but via a Latin center, probably Palestrina.^[11]^[12]^[2]

Under the name Apulu, he is known as god of the Sun and light, thunder and lightning, healing and plague, as well as the protector of divination,^[11]^[12] but he also has volcanic and infernal characteristics.^[13]^[14]^{[page needed]}

He was also known as Rath,^[15] Usil^[16] and Vetis,^[14] among other names.^[4]

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

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,^[a] 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.

Notes

^ 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

Citations

^ ^a ^b Virgil, 11.786.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d De Grummond & Simon 2006.
^ ^a ^b National Etruscan Museum.
^ ^a ^b Maras 2010.
^ Van der Meer 2013, pp. 323–341.
^ Myth Index.
^ Krauskopf 2006, pp. vii, pp. 73–75.
^ Bonfante & Bonfante 2002, p. 194.
^ Jannot 2005, p. 146.
^ Colonna 2009, pp. 101–126.
^ ^a ^b Cristofani 2000, pp. 161–162.
^ ^a ^b Cristofani 1985, pp. 12–13.
^ Classical Association 1918, p. 107.
^ ^a ^b Kenney & Clausen 1983.
^ Bonfante & Bonfante 2002, p. 204.
^ Nonoss 2015.

Works cited

Bonfante, Giuliano; Bonfante, Larissa (2002) [1983]. The Etruscan Language: An Introduction (2 ed.). Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-5540-9.
Classical Association (1918). Postgate, John Percival; Arnold, Edward Vernon; Hall, Frederick William (eds.). Classical Quarterly. Translated by Postgate, John Percival. Clarendon Press. p. 107. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
Colonna, Giovanni (2009). "L'Apollo di Pyrgi, Śur/Śuri (il «Nero») e l'Apollo Sourios". Studi Etruschi (in Italian). LXXIII: 101–134. ISSN 0391-7762.
Cristofani, Mauro, ed. (2000) [1984]. "Apulu/Aplu". Etruschi: una nuova immagine (in Italian). Florence: Giunti Editore. pp. 161–162. ISBN 978-88-09-01792-4.
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 978-0-292-78233-4. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
- Krauskopf, Ingrid. "The Grave and Beyond". In De Grummond & Simon (2006), pp. VII, 73–75.
Lecce, Vittoria. "Novembre e il dio Suri - Il Nero Signore" (in Italian). Museo Nazionale Etrusco. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
Maras, Daniele Federico (2010). "Suri. Il nero signore degli inferi". Archeo (in Italian). No. 305. Archived from the original on 2014-12-10. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
Jannot, Jean-René [in French] (2005). Religion in Ancient Etruria. Translated by Whitehead, J.K. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-20844-8.
Kenney, Edward John; Clausen, Wendell Vernon (1983). The Cambridge History of Classical Literature. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-27373-2.
Nonoss (2015). "Turan, Aritimi, Usil et l'énigmatique Letham..." Au Fil du Temps (in French). Retrieved 2024-08-11.
"Soranus". Myth Index. Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
Van der Meer, Lammert 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). Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via Academia.edu.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Virgil. Aeneid. Vol. XI. 786. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via Perseus Digital Library.