Charun

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Charun from the Tomba François near Vulci from the 4th century BC Chr. Top left in Etruscan script CHARU.

Charun (or Charu) is an Etruscan underworld demon , comparable in function to the Greek Hermes , in which he appears as a companion during the journey into the dead. However, he can also be seen in the role of a grave guard, together with other Charunten. The name comes from Charon , in Greek mythology the ferryman who puts the dead across the Acheron River. The Etruscan Charun leads the dead into the underworld with a large hammer. He is often depicted with Aita and Vanth , also figures from the Etruscan underworld. Charun has only been used since the 4th century BC. Represented figuratively. Similar to the Tuchulcha , Charu (n) can also appear as a generic name and vary the sex of the Charunten.

presentation

As already mentioned, the representation of the Charun or the Charunten shows strong fluctuations between artists and over time. As with other non-Etruscan demons, gods and mythical creatures, over time an increasing humanization of the representation and syncretistic adoption of partly foreign elements can be recognized.

Classic time

The classic representation shows the Charun mostly provided with animal-like features, such as a nose reminiscent of a vulture's beak, pointed animal ears and tusk-like teeth, but the representation is also with an "ape-like face with a flat nose and wide mouth." The Charun can appear winged. The representation ranges from “angel wings”, “also with the all-seeing eye” to small wings on the head. The hair is mostly tangled. The clothes are mostly belted and short-sleeved, sometimes he appears with a helmet, (snake) diadem or wrapped lion skin . In most cases the demon carries a heavy hammer, which "is similar to the scythe [a symbol] of our conception of death", but can also be represented with a sickle-bladed hooked sword, hatchet or a large key. The coloring, especially the wings, can show differences and indicate subtypes of the Charu (n). Cleverly uses the example of the Tomba dei Caronti to name a “ χarun xexe with brown wings”, a “ χarun χunχulis [...] [with] blue [n] wings [...] [and] a [en] χarun huθs with blue wings ”and other armament.

Hellenistic period

In the Hellenistic period , the depiction of the demonic Charun was humanized and the artists based their depiction of the demon on the imagery of the god Apollo . Charun is generally depicted more youthful and "with the typical boots [...] and also in the right hand a closed scroll [carrying]".

Impressions

  • Charuns on an Etruscan vessel, end of the 4th century BC BC - beginning of the 3rd century BC Chr.

  • Red-figure amphora from Vulci . The Charu (n) is on the left.

  • Achilles kills a prisoner, next to him a Charu (n).

  • The design of the mug is cleverly interpreted as a transition to the humanized representation.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Smart: The Etruscan Religion , p. 332, refers to the etymology of the name on the view of the "Byzantnine grammarian [s] Tzetzes [.] [That] Charun means 'lion' [t]."
  2. ↑ The Greek Charon, like his Etruscan colleague, has undergone a change from an animal demon to a humanized allegory of death. "The ferryman figure only later superimposed the features of the death demon of animal origin [...]." (Smart: The Etruscan Religion , p. 333)
  3. ↑ See Smart: The Etruscan Religion , pp. 332–334.
  4. ↑ a b c d Smart: The Etruscan Religion , p. 332.
  5. ↑ See Smart: The Etruscan Religion , p. 333.
  6. ↑ a b Smart: The Etruscan Religion , p. 333.
  7. ↑ Clever: The Etruscan Religion , p. 332, compares the humanization with the representation of the Gorgon and assumes that "[d] he human-shaped Charun with wings as a psychopompos [.] [Seems] to be influenced by the Greeks of Lower Italy. . "(Smart: The Etruscan Religion , p. 333)
  8. ↑ See Smart: The Etruscan Religion , p. 332.

literature

  • Ambros Josef Pfiffig: The Etruscan religion. Sacred places, gods, cults, rituals. Wiesbaden 1998. ISBN 3-928127-54-3 .