Turan, the Etruscan goddess of love on bronze mirrors

The Etruscans, who dominated much of central Italy before the rise of Rome, had their own goddess of love: Turan. We know her mainly from short inscriptions and from numerous engraved bronze mirrors, precious objects that accompanied women in life and often in the tomb. Through these images Turan appears as a young and regal goddess, surrounded by lovers, attendants and birds.

A name and a cult

The meaning of the name Turan is uncertain: some scholars have linked it to a term supposedly meaning lady, but the proposal remains debated, because the Etruscan language, though readable in its alphabet, is largely not understood in its vocabulary. The Etruscans identified Turan with the Greek Aphrodite and took over many of her myths, but the goddess also had a cult of her own in the sanctuaries of Etruria.

Dedications to Turan have been found in several places of worship, including the sanctuary of Gravisca, the port of Tarquinia frequented by Greek merchants, where the Etruscan goddess lived side by side with the Aphrodite worshipped by seafarers. According to a debated hypothesis, even the Latin name of the month of April may derive, through an Etruscan form, from the Greek name of Aphrodite.

The engraved mirrors

Etruscan mirrors, produced mainly between the fifth and third centuries BC, had one face polished to reflect and the other decorated with engraved scenes, often accompanied by the names of the characters. Turan appears on them frequently, sometimes winged, dressed in rich garments and jewels. Beside her one often sees the dove, the swan or the goose, and winged female figures called Lasa, who serve her as attendants.

One of the best-loved scenes is the judgement of Paris, who in Etruscan is called Elcsntre, from Alexandros. Turan appears in competition with Uni, the Etruscan Juno, and with Menrva, the Etruscan Minerva, before the young Trojan prince. Other mirrors show Turan with Atunis, that is Adonis, the youth loved by Aphrodite, in intimate poses that tell the story of the two lovers.

A goddess of beauty and union

The fact that Turan appears above all on mirrors, objects linked to the care of beauty and, according to many scholars, often given as wedding gifts, suggests that the goddess was felt to be a protector of seduction and of marriage. Mirrors placed in women's tombs accompanied the dead into the afterlife, as if beauty and love were meant to continue beyond life.

In the scenes in which she appears, Turan is rarely alone: she attends weddings, accompanies lovers, protects heroes. On some mirrors young winged cupids, similar to the Greek Eros, stand beside her, together with other minor deities of beauty whose names remain hard to translate. It is a small retinue that recalls Aphrodite's, but with an identity of its own.

Turan is an example of how the Etruscans welcomed Greek myths and reworked them with names and tastes of their own. Many of the stories engraved on her mirrors are Greek, but the way of telling them, with names written beside the figures and meticulous attention to jewels and garments, belongs fully to the Etruscan world.