Turan was the
EtruscanThe Etruscans were a diachronically continuous population speaking a distinct language and practicing a distinctive culture that ranged over the Po Valley and some of its alpine slopes, southward along the west coast of Italy, most intensely in Etruria, with enclaves as far south as Campania, and...
goddessA goddess is a female deity. Often deities are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities in a pantheon. In some cultures goddesses are commonly associated with the Earth, motherhood, love, and the household, often reflecting the historical gender roles of that culture...
of love and vitality and patroness of the city of
Velchthumb|250px|The Castle dell'Abbadia and the bridge.Volci or Vulci is an Etruscan city in the Province of Viterbo, north to Rome, central Italy....
. In art, she was usually depicted as a young winged girl . Turan appears in toilette scenes of Etruscan bronze mirrors. She is richly robed and jeweled in early and late depictions, but consistently appears nude under the influence of Hellenistic art in the third and second centuries BCE. She is consistently paired with her young lover Atunis (
AdonisAdonis is a figure of West Semitic origin, where he is a central cult figure in various mystery religions, who entered Greek mythology. He is closely related to the Egyptian Osiris, the Semitic Tammuz and Baal Hadad, the Etruscan Atunis and the Phrygian Attis, all of whom are deities of rebirth...
) and figures in the episode of the
Judgement of ParisThe Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War and to the foundation of Rome.-Sources of the episode:...
.
She was commonly associated with birds such as the
dovePigeons and doves constitute the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerine birds. In general parlance the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
,
gooseThe word Goose is the English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
and above all the
swanSwans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
,
Tusna, "the swan of Turan".
Turan was the
EtruscanThe Etruscans were a diachronically continuous population speaking a distinct language and practicing a distinctive culture that ranged over the Po Valley and some of its alpine slopes, southward along the west coast of Italy, most intensely in Etruria, with enclaves as far south as Campania, and...
goddessA goddess is a female deity. Often deities are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities in a pantheon. In some cultures goddesses are commonly associated with the Earth, motherhood, love, and the household, often reflecting the historical gender roles of that culture...
of love and vitality and patroness of the city of
Velchthumb|250px|The Castle dell'Abbadia and the bridge.Volci or Vulci is an Etruscan city in the Province of Viterbo, north to Rome, central Italy....
. In art, she was usually depicted as a young winged girl . Turan appears in toilette scenes of Etruscan bronze mirrors. She is richly robed and jeweled in early and late depictions, but consistently appears nude under the influence of Hellenistic art in the third and second centuries BCE. She is consistently paired with her young lover Atunis (
AdonisAdonis is a figure of West Semitic origin, where he is a central cult figure in various mystery religions, who entered Greek mythology. He is closely related to the Egyptian Osiris, the Semitic Tammuz and Baal Hadad, the Etruscan Atunis and the Phrygian Attis, all of whom are deities of rebirth...
) and figures in the episode of the
Judgement of ParisThe Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War and to the foundation of Rome.-Sources of the episode:...
.
She was commonly associated with birds such as the
dovePigeons and doves constitute the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerine birds. In general parlance the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
,
gooseThe word Goose is the English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
and above all the
swanSwans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
,
Tusna, "the swan of Turan". Her
retinueA retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble or royal personage, a suite of "retainers."-Etymology:...
were called
LasasLares were ancient Roman deities protecting the house and the family, they were a form of household gods....
. Turan may be quite ancient but does not appear on the Piacenza liver nor in Martianus list of Etruscan deities. The Etruscan month of July was named after her, although we only know the Latin word for it,
Traneus.
She was seen as the equivalent to
the RomanRoman mythology, or Latin mythology, refers to the mythological beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Ancient Rome. It can be considered as having two parts; One part, largely later and literary, consists of borrowings from Greek mythology...
Venus and the
GreekGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
AphroditeAphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty and raw sexuality. According to Greek poet Hesiod, she was born when Cronus cut off Ouranos's genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the aphros arose Aphrodite.Because of her beauty other gods feared that jealousy would interrupt the peace...
. Her name is derived from the Etruscan verb
turan "to rule".
Turan had a sanctuary in the Greek-influenced
GraviscaGravisca or Graviscae was the port of the Etruscan city of Tarquinii, situated 8 km east of the city center.A colonia of Roman citizenship was established at the site in 181 BC.-References:*...
, the port for
TarquiniaTarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.- History :Tarquinii is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen...
, where votive gifts inscribed with her name have been found. One inscription calls her
Turan ati, "Mother Turan" which has been interpreted as connecting her to
Venus GenetrixVenus Genetrix may be:*An epithet of the goddess Venus*Venus Genetrix , the name for a type of sculptural depiction of the goddess thought to represent her under this epithet....
, Venus the mother of
AeneasIn Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess Venus. His father was also the second cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy, which led to the founding of the city Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid...
and progenitor of the Julio-Claudian lineage.