Phersu

Phersu in the Tomba degli Auguri

As Phersu the representation of a figure in the mural paintings of two Etruscan referred tombs v on the year to 550th To be dated. The figure wears a short, fringed shirt and over it a short doublet with irregular white spots. On her head she wears a conical hat with white stripes. The mask with a beard in front of the figure's face is striking . She leads a large dog on a leash, which she seems to be chasing a person standing next to her. This representation has been interpreted as a gladiatrist fight in honor of the dead.

The word phersu seems to be related to the Latin persona for mask , so that the word itself is translated as masked . The ancient historian Franz Altheim suspected that the phersu originally referred to an Etruscan death demon because it has striking parallels to the dispater . This is also indicated by the similarity to the pre-Greek word Phersipnai , which can be found among other things in the term Persephone (Greek underworld goddess).

literature

• Emil Vetter : Phersu . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIX, 2, Stuttgart 1938, Col. 2057 f.
• Albrecht von Blumenthal : Persona 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIX, 1, Stuttgart 1937, Sp. 1036-1040.