Śuri

Śuri (), Latinized as , was an ancient Etruscan infernal, volcanic and solar fire god, also venerated by other Italic peoples – among them Capenates, Faliscans, Latins and Sabines – and later adopted into ancient Roman religion.

He was variously depicted as: a crowned young man wielding a spear or bow and arrows; an enthroned black- bearded man with a wolf-skin cap or wolf-like appearance; or even a winged humanoid monster, usually wielding a sledgehammer or a sword.

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The Etruscan theonym Śuri (, from ) means both 'black' and 'from the black lace, i.e. the underworld.

Śuri was essentially a chthonic solar deity: the volcanic fire god of light and darkness, lord of the sun and the underworld, with powers over health and plague as well.
Furthermore, as god of volcanic lightning, he was considered to be among the Novensiles, the nine Etruscan thunder gods.

He was also an oracular god.
His sacred animals were wolves and goats.

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Because of his multiple attributes, the Etruscan fire god Śuri bore many epithets, among them
– consistently associated with kingship over the Manes (underworld deities), infernal and volcanic attributes, fire, lightning, wolves and goats – like Manth (, Latinized as ), Vetis (, also spelt , variously Latinized as , , or ), Calu (), , and – by – the equivalent foreignism Aita (, also spelt ), from , , syncretised with Roman Dīs Pater;
as well as – consistently associated with solar and volcanic attributes, fire, lightning, wolves and goats – like Rath (), Usil (, also spelt ), , and the equivalent foreignism Apulu (, also spelt ), from the Greco-Roman Apollo, identified with () and later syncretised by the Romans as or . These theonyms were also associated on Pyrgi inscriptions.

Worship

Cult centers

The center of his cult was Mount Soracte, a sacred mountain located north of Rome, isolated in the middle of the countryside, in an area characterized by deep karst cavities and secondary volcanic phenomena; these phenomena were associated in antiquity with underworld deities, whom the area was hence sacred to, such as the Roman , syncretised with ().

Multiple cities were dedicated to this deity, among them the twin cities of Surina (Soriano) and , in the present-day province of Viterbo, Latium, as well as the city of Sorano, in the present-day province of Grosseto, Tuscany.

Furthermore, his theonym () is the eponymous of (, ), birthplace of Virgil, who also mentioned the volcanic god in the ''Aeneid''.
This theonym was primarily used in the Po Valley ( Etruria Padana, Northern Italy), as described by Servius, but a sanctuary with dedications from the Archaic period was also found in Pontecagnano, province of Salerno ( Etruria Campana, Southern Italy).

Besides, according to Mauro Cristofani, the sun god was also worshipped in Cortona, Populonia and Magliano.
Temples and votives were also found in Tuscania and Tarquinia, where there are also traces of a priestly college.

Worshippers

The priests of Soranus were called , (from ).
They were considered skillful ornithomantists and firewalkers; during the ceremonies, they walked on hot coals, holding the entrails of sacrificed goats.
Furthermore, during the annual festivities in honor of Apollo Soranus and Feronia, they walked barefoot among burning logs without being burned, for which they were forever released by the Roman Senate from military service and other liturgies.
The , in the Roman religion, probably derive from these priests.

Servius has preserved the following legend about them: once, during a sacrifice to Dīs Pater, several wolves ran up to the altar and stole the sacrificial pieces. The shepherds gave chase and ran to a cave – into Mount Soracte – from which such suffocating fumes emanated that those who pursued fell dead. The pestilence that soon spread throughout the country was connected with the death of the shepherds, while the oracle, to whom they turned for advice on how to get rid of the plague, replied that the plague would stop as soon as the inhabitants, like wolves, began to lead a robber life. These people took the name (from ) and devoted themselves to the cult of Soranus, later identified with Dīs Pater due their shared volcanic and underworld attributes.

Partners

Śuri has been historically associated with two female partners: the aforementioned Feronia, celebrated alongside him and considered to be his sister-in-law, whose major sanctuary () was located near Mount Soracte; and Catha (), considered to be his consort, goddess of the moon and the underworld.

Paired with Śuri and all his , his consort Catha also bore several ones, which varied accordingly, e.g.: his theonym () was paired with Mania (), whereas his theonym was paired with Persipnei (, also spelt ), equivalent to the Greco-Roman theonym Persephone ().

Under the solar theonym Usil (), Śuri is named alongside Catha on the right lobe (convex face) of the bronze Liver of Piacenza, which is separated into two lobes.
Initially, some researchers supposed that the first lobe, where the gods of the lights and heavens are listed, could represent him, whereas the second an hypothetical partner named Tiur.
In fact, his name appears next to the word (), that was purported to be the name of a lunar goddess, allegedly his consort, but since actually meant "moon" and "month" (lunar month, equivalent to Greek ), that inscription was most likely meant as a datation, as in the Pyrgi Tablets, while his consort, also known by multiple epithets, was actually named Catha.

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Even outside his , Śuri is mentioned in multiple archaeological sites and artifacts, e.g. the bilingual Phoenician– Etruscan Pyrgi Tablets, the Lead Plaque of Magliano, and the .
His mentions and depictions also reflect his multiple and , for example his in Pyrgi, Caere, and the aforementioned .

Mentioned as son of the supreme sky god Tinia and the earth goddess Semla, brother of Fufluns and twin brother of Aritimi, he is primarily known for his powers over the sun, lightning, healing and plague, and divination, as well as for his volcanic and infernal characteristics.

Chthonic sun deity

Frequently in associatiation with the aforementioned foreignism Apulu (which does not appear on the ), equivalent to his native theonyms Rath, Usil and Vetis, he is often depicted in art with a crown and laurel branches.
His most famous representation, known as the Apollo of Veii, is a painted terracotta statue from Veii, Latium, attributed to Vulca.

In the Etruscan iconography, his theonym Usil (also mentioned on the ) is the representation of power and strength.
His iconic depiction features the sun god rising out of the sea, with a fireball in either outstretched hand, on an engraved Etruscan bronze mirror in late Archaic style, formerly on the Roman antiquities market. On Etruscan mirrors in Classical style, he appears with a halo.
Syncretised with the Greek Helios and Roman Sol, and later Apollo ('' Apulu''), the sun god also appears on an Etruscan mirror from the Vatican dating from the 4th century BC, on which Usil is seen holding the bow of Apulu.

Besides, in artwork Usil is shown in close association with Thesan, the dawn goddess, something almost never seen with Helios and Eos.
However, while Usil is depicted as male in most artworks, there are also feminine depictions.

Chthonic wolf deity

The god – also known as Manth, king of the Manes – also acts as psychopomp: he guides the souls of the deceased into the underworld, getting occasionally nicknamed Charun (, from Greek Charon) and associated with the feminine counterpart Vanth.
He is also known as a trickster god and bringer of luck, misfortune, because he would attract the attention of his victims through trickery, thus stealing their souls.
As such, he is often depicted on Etruscan coffins as a black- bearded zoomorphism, animalistic man or satyr, with pale skin (symbolizing the decomposition, decay of death), pointed ears, and enormous wings, wearing a tunic and sometimes a crown or a cap, usually wielding a sledgehammer or a sword.

This animalistic god of the dead, also called Calu (), is equally identified by his wolf attributes, such as a wolf-like appearance or a wolf-skin cap; and although the equivalent grecism Aita () is very rarely depicted, he may appear enthroned and sometimes wears a wolf-skin cap, borrowing a key attribute from earlier Calu.

Indeed, the theonym Aita is a relatively late addition to the Etruscan Pantheon (religion), pantheon, appearing in iconography and in Etruscan text beginning in the 4th century BC, and is heavily influenced by his Greek counterpart, Hades.
Pictured in only a few instances in Etruscan tomb painting, such as in the Golini Tomb from Orvieto and the tomb of Orcus II from Tarquinia, he is shown with his consort Persipnei or Phersipnai, the Etruscan equivalent to the Greek Persephone.
Other examples of Aita in Etruscan art depict his Rape of Persephone, abduction of Persipnei.
Aside from tomb painting, he may be identified in a few examples in other list of art media, media, including on a 4th-century painted vase from Vulci, two 2nd century alabaster ash urns from Volterra, and a red-figure 4th–3rd century oinochoe.

Chthonic lightning deity

In addition to their inherent attributes over light and darkness, Śuri and all his (e.g. his infernal theonym Aita, or Usil and Apulu) were consistently associated with kingship, fire and lightnings, health and plague, wolves and goats; attributes also shared with his aforementioned theonyms Manth () and Vetis (also spelt Veivis; variously Latinized as , , or ), as well as their Roman spin-off .

Romans believed that Vejovis was one of the first gods to be born.
Portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows, pilum or lightning bolts in his hand, and accompanied by a goat – he was consistently associated with volcanic eruptions and healing, getting occasionally identified as a young version of Jupiter, Apollo, or Asclepius.

Aulus Gellius, in the , speculated that Vejovis was an ill-omened counterpart of Jupiter (god), Jupiter (compare ), observing that the particle that prefixes the name of the god also appears in Latin words such as , and thus interpreting the name Vejovis as the anti-Jove.

Vejovis had three festivals in the Roman Calendar: on 1 January 7 March, and 21 May.
He was mostly worshipped in Rome and Bovillae, in Latium.
On the Capitoline Hill and on the Tiber Island, temples were erected in his honour.
Among them, there was a temple of Veiovis, temple between the two peaks of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, where his statue carried a bundle of arrows and stood next to a statue of a she-goat.
In spring, multiple goats were sacrificed to him to avert plagues. Aulus Gellius, Gellius informs us that Vejovis received the sacrifice of a female goat, sacrificed ; this obscure phrase could either mean "after the manner of a human sacrifice" or "in the manner of a burial." These offerings were less about the animal sacrificed and more about the soul sacrificed.

Summanus

Summanus – , supposedly from , or + – was the god of nocturnal thunder in Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, as counterposed to Jupiter (god), Jupiter, the god of diurnal (daylight) thunder.

His precise nature was unclear even to Ovid.
Pliny the Elder, Pliny thought that he was of Etruscan religion, Etruscan origin, and one of the Novensiles#Council on lightning, nine gods of thunder. Varro, however, lists Summanus among List of Roman deities#Sabine gods, gods he considers of Sabine origin, to whom king Titus Tatius dedicated altars () in consequence of a votum.
Paulus Diaconus considers him a god of lightning.

The temple of Summanus was dedicated during the Pyrrhic War on 20 June. It stood at the west of the Circus Maximus, perhaps on the slope of the Aventine Hill, Aventine. It seems the temple had been dedicated because the statue of the god which stood on the roof of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus had been struck by a lightning bolt.
Cicero recounts that the clay statue of the god which stood on the roof of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was struck by a lightning bolt: its head was nowhere to be seen. The haruspices announced that it had been hurled into the Tiber River, where indeed it was found on the very spot indicated by them.
The temple of Summanus itself was struck by lightning in 197 BCE.

Every 20 June, the day before the summer solstice, round cakes called , made of flour, milk, and honey and shaped as wheels,Festus p.557 L were offered to him as a token of propitiation: the wheel might be a solar symbol. Summanus also received a sacrifice of two black oxen or wethers. Dark Glossary of ancient Roman religion#victima, animals were typically offered to chthonic deities.
Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustine records that in earlier times Summanus had been more exalted than Jupiter, but with the construction of a temple that was more magnificent than that of Summanus, Jupiter became more honored.

Mount Summano – located in the Alps near Vicenza, Veneto – is traditionally considered a site of the cults of Pluto (mythology), Pluto, Summanus, and the Manes.
The mountaintop is frequently struck by lightning. The mountain itself has a deep grotto in which, according to local legend, a young shepherdess became lost and disappeared. The story might be an #Chthonic wolf deity, adaptation of the Greek, Etruscan and later Roman myth of Proserpina, who was abducted by Pluto.

Further connections

Norse mythology

The Etruscan theonym , , is somehow cognate to Old Norse , .
In Norse mythology, Surtr – king of the fire giants of Múspell, birthplace of the Sun and other stars – is "a mighty giant who ruled the volcanic powers of the underworld" and will cover the Earth in fire during Ragnarök, causing the entire world to burn.
Rudolf Simek notes that jötnar – frost and fire giants – are usually described as living to the east in Old Norse sources, yet Surtr is described as being from the south.
Indeed, Surtr is mentioned twice in the poem ''Völuspá'', where a völva divulges information to the god Odin. The völva says that, during Ragnarök, Surtr will come from the south with List of mythological objects#Substances from Norse mythology, flames, carrying a sword brighter than the sun:

These and other apparent coincidences inspired the hypothesis that Surtr's mythic south could be identified in Śuri's Etruscan Italy, but, despite the archaeological findings confirm ancient exchanges among the Tyrrhenians and the Proto-Germanic peoples, systematic studies of comparative mythology and comparative linguistics, linguistics, as well as additional survey (archaeology), archaeological surveys, may still be needed to confirm deeper connections.

See also

* Apollo Smintheus – A chthonic epithet of Apollo
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** List of Etruscan mythological figures
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* Ulfheðnar – Old Norse legendary wolf-warriors

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Explanatory footnotes

Citations

Works cited

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Suri
Śuri,
Chthonic beings
Death gods
Earth gods
Etruscan gods
Etruscan mythology
Fire gods
Health gods
Jovian deities
Plague gods
Planetary gods
Roman gods
Roman underworld
Sabine gods
Sky and weather gods
Solar gods
Thunder gods
Trickster gods
Underworld gods
Volcano gods
Wolf deities