Engraved Etruscan hand mirror depicting Judgement of Paris

Episode 10 Etruscan Homes

The Mysterious Etruscans

Dr Steven L Tuck (2016)

Film Review

The Greeks considered the Etruscans “barbarians,” in large part because they regarded women as equal to men (in marriage, but not in public spaces). The Etruscans, in turn, read Greek literature and incorporated Greek mythology into their art, jewelry and household decorations and furnishings. According to Tuck, the years 700-600 BC were the “orientalizing” period of Etruscan art, during which Greek and Near East (Assyrian) influences were incorporated into their imagery.*

The Etruscans were highly sophisticated metal workers, and all but the poorest Etruscan women had bronze hand mirrors engraved with scenes from Greek mythology. Wealthy Etruscan women also had engraved cosmetic and jewelry containers.

As late as the 4th century BC, the Etruscans ran an engraving industry in Rome, incorporating Greek metallurgical techniques. Although common in tombs and sanctuaries, images for household and personal accessories rarely depicted bloody battles or death. The Judgement of Paris** seems to have been the most popular Greek myth found in Etruscan household engravings .

Other Greek myths commonly displayed in Etruscan art include the birth of Helen (her father Zeus seduced a swan named Leda, which meant Helen was hatched out of an egg) and the birth of of the Greek goddess of wisdom Minerva (Zeus swallowed her pregnant mother, causing Minerva to burst forth fully grown from his skull).

*The Greek poet Homer recorded the epic poem The Odyssey (which had been passed down orally for 500 years) around 720 BC.

**In Greek mythology Zeus appointed Paris of Troy to chose whether Zeus’s wife Hera or Aphrodite was most beautiful. Aphrodite bribed him by promising him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world (Helen). Unfortunately to claim his prize, he had to abduct her from her Spartan husband Menelaus, triggering the Trojan War.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/239710/239631