Etruscan Myths Larissa Bonfante Judith Swaddling by Larissa Bonfante, Judith Swaddling instant download after payment.

Before we begin to discuss Etruscan myth, let us put the Etruscans into context. The Etruscan cities which flourished in central Italy between the tenth & the first centuries BC affected the course of history for both the Greeks & the Romans.Their civilization flourished on the west coast of central& northern Italy, with Italy’s two main rivers — the Arno & the Tiber — as its boundaries (see map). The Tyrrhenian Sea to the west was named after them by the Greeks, who knew them as Tyrrhenians. The name of the modern region of Tuscany was derived from Tursci or Tusci, the Roman name for this ancient people. 

The Etruscans were contemporaries of the ancient Greeks, the peoples of the Near East, Carthage & Rome. Their geographical position in the middle of the Mediterranean put them in the centre of a world in rapid evolution,& their natural resources— great harbours, fertile fields & minerals— made them wealthy. Like the Greeks, the Etruscans were united by sharing a language& a religion. And like the Greeks, they had fiercely independent, highly individual city states, each of which developed specialties in arts & crafts. The southernmost cities on the coast, Cerveteri & Tarquinia...were the first to become wealthy from the international trade...