GAME PHERSU: PRO ET CONTRA
Abstract
Having examined the frescoes from Tarquinia: the Tomb of Augurs, the Tomb of the Pulcinella, and the Tomb of the Olympiads dated back to the sixth century BCE that depict scenes with a personage Phersu, the author deals with Etruscan inscriptions, data of the Antique tradition about origin of scenic and gladiatorial games, as well as a number of interpretations of these scenes to prove that the Etruscan ritual ‘game Phersu’ is a prototype of the Roman gladiatorial games and ‘venatio’. Being a part of Etruscan funeral rite, the ritual game was a substitutive sacrifice that symbolised a fight of a human being against the demon of death Calu – an abductor of souls from the world of the living. The fight was supposed to be guided by an invisible and disguised power, being personified in the image of Phersu.
Keywords
DOI: 10.14795/j.v2i1.86
References
ALTHEIM 1938 - Altheim, F.: A History of Roman Religion (London: Methuen)
AVRAMIDOU 2009 - Avramidou, A.: The Phersu game revisited, Etruscan Studies 12, 73-86
BLUMENTHAL 1937 - von Blumenthal, A.: s. v. Persona, RE 19.37,1036
BONFANTE/BONFANTE 2002 - Bonfante, G./ Bonfante, L.: Etruscan language. An introduction (Manchester: University Press)
BURIAN/MOUCHOVA 1966 - Burian, J./ Mouchová, B.: Záhadní Etruskové (Praha: Mladá fronta)
DEEKE 1884 - Deeke, W.: Etruskische Forschungen und Studien. H. 6. (Stuttgart: Verlag von Albert Heitz)
ELIADE 1995 - Eliade, M.: Mefistofel şi androginul (București: Humanitas)
ELLIOTT 1995 - Elliott, J.: The Etruscan Wolfman in Myth and Ritual, Etruscan Studies 2, 17-33
EMMANUEL-REBUFFAT 1983 - Emmanuel-Rebuffat, D.: Le jeu du Phersu à Tarquinia: nouvelle interprétation, Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, 127.3, 421-438
ETRUSCANS 1995 - Etruscans: Italy’s lovers of life, ed. Dale Brown (London: Time Life Education)
FORSYTHE 2005 - Forsythe, G. A.: Critical history of Early Rome. From prehistory to the First Punic War (Berkeley; Los Angeles; London: University of California Press)
FORTSON IV 2011 - Fortson IV, B. W.: Indo-European language and culture. An introduction (Oxford: Wilay-Blackwell).
GORONCHAROVSKIY 2009 - Goroncharovskiy, V. A.: Arena i krov: Rimskie gladiatoryi mezhdu zhiznyu i smertyu (Sankt-Peterburg.: Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie).
HARSEKIN/GELTSER 1965 - Harsekin, A. I./ Geltser, M. L.: Novyie nadpisi iz Pirgi na finikiyskom i etrusskom yazyikah, VDI (3), 108-131
HEURGON 1961 - Heurgon, J.: La Vie Quotidienne Chez Les Étrusques (Paris: Hachette)
HÖFLING 1987 - Höfling, H.: Römer, Sklaven, Gladiatoren. Spartakus vor den Toren Roms (Gernsbach: Casimir Katz Verlag)
HUS 1980 - Hus, A.: Les Étrusques et leur destin (Paris: Picard)
JANNOT 1984 - Jannot, J.-R.: Un avatar etrusque du mythe grec, Revue des Études Latines 62, 45-56
JANNOT 1993 - Jannot, J.-R.: Phersu, Phersuna, Persona. A propos du masque étrusque. In J.-P. Thuillier (ed.) Spectacles et scéniques dans le monde étrusco-italique: actes de la table ronde, (Rome: Ecole française de Rome), 281-320
LOSEVA/SIDOROVA 1988 - Loseva, N. M./Sidorova, N. A.: Iskusstvo Etrurii i Drevney Italii (Moscow: Iskusstvo)
MACNAMARA 1987 - MacNamara, E.: Everyday Life of The Etruscans (New York: Dorset Press)
NAGOVITSYIN 2000 - Nagovitsyin, A. E.: Mifologiya i religiya etruskov (Moscow: Refl-buk)
NEMIROVSKIY 1983 - Nemirovskiy, A. I.: Etruski. Ot mifa k istorii (Moscow: Nauka)
NEMIROVSKIY/ HARSEKIN 1969 - Nemirovskiy, A. I./ Harsekin, A. I.: Etruski. Vvedenie v etruskologiyu (Voronezh: Izd-voVoronezh. un-ta)
NOSOV 2010 - Nosov, K. S.: Gladiatoryi (Moscow: Eksmo)
PAOLUCCI 2003 - Paolucci, F.: Gladiatori: i dannati dello spettacolo (Firenze: Giunti)
PETROV 2001 - Petrov, A. V. «Osvobozhdenie ot okov»: k voprosu o tselyah magicheskih protsedur v ellinistichesko-rimskoy magii. In E. D. Frolov (ed.), Antichnoe obschestvo – IV: Vlast i obschestvo v antichnosti: Tezisyi dokladov nauchnoy konferentsii, Sankt-Peterburg (Russian Federation), 5-7 Marth 2001 (Sankt-Peterburg: Izd-vo SPbGU), 51-53
POULSEN 1922 - Poulsen, F.: Etruscan tomb paintings. Their subjects and significance (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
ROBERT 2004 - Robert, J.-N.: Les Etrusques (Paris: Les Belles Lettres)
RUPP 2007 - Rupp, Jr. W. L.: Shape of the Beast: The Theriomorphic and Therianthropic Deities and Demons of Ancient Italy (PhD diss. Florida State University)
SHIROKOVA 2000 - Shirokova, N. S.: Kultura keltov i nordicheskaya traditsiya antichnosti (Sankt-Peterburg: Evraziya)
SHIROKOVA 2002 - Shirokova, N. S.: Ogmiy – keltskiy bog «svyazyivatel». In E. D. Frolov (ed.), Mnemon. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po istorii antichnogo mira, (Sankt-Peterburg: Izd-vo SpbGU), 253-262
SKUTSCH 1907 - Skutsch, Fr.: s. v. Etruskische Sprache, RE 6.11, 770-806
SŁAPEK 1998 - Słapek, D.: Bustuarius gladiator- mit pierwszego gladiatora, In L. Morawiecki (ed.), Graecorum et Romanorum memoria I, Res Historica 5, (Lublin: Wyd-wo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej), 115-131
SOKOLOV 2002 - Sokolov, G. I.: Iskusstvo etruskov (Moscow: Slovo)
STEINGRÄBER 2006 - Steingräber, S.: Abundance of life. Etruscan wall painting: from the geometric period to the Hellenistic period (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum)
STODDART 2009 - Stoddart, S.: Historical dictionary of the Etruscans (Lanham: The Scarecrow Press)
TARNOWSKI 1987 - Tarnowski, W.: Gladiatoren (Nürnberg: Tessloff Verlag)
TIMOFEEVA 1980 - Timofeeva, N. K.: Religiozno-mifologicheskaya kartina mira etruskov (Novosibirsk: Nauka)
VETTER 1938 - Vetter, E.: s. v. Phersipnai, RE 19.38, 2057
Vetter, E.: s. v. Phersu, RE 19. 38, 2058
VILLE 1981- Ville, G.: La gladiatureen Occidentdes origines à lamort de Domitien (Roma: Ecole française de Rome)
VILLING 2014 - Villing, A. : ‘Dengerous perfection’ and an old puzzle resolved : a ‘new’ Apulian krater inspired by Euripides’Antiope, Bulletin of the Insitute of Classical studies, 57.1, 61-78
YATSEMIRSKIY 2011 - Yatsemirskiy, S. A.: Opyit sravnitelnogo opisaniya minoyskogo, etrusskogo i rodstvennyih im yazyikov (Moscow: Yazyiki slavyanskoy kulturyi)
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
ISSN: 2360-266X