Śuri
Member of Novensiles
Major cult center
World
Weaponsvolcanic lightning, fire, lava
Animalswolf, goat
Symbolsolar disc, halo, bow and arrows, pilum, lead
AdherentsHirpi Sorani
Gendermale
RegionItaly
Ethnic groupEtruscans, Capenates, Faliscans, Latins, Sabines
Personal information
Parents
Siblings
ConsortCatha
Equivalents
Greek equivalentHades + Apollo
Roman equivalentDīs Pater + Apollo
Norse equivalentSurtr

Śuri (Etruscan: 𐌉𐌛𐌖𐌑, romanized: Śuri, from Etruscan: 𐌛𐌖𐌑, romanized: Śur, lit. 'black'), later latinized as Soranus, was an ancient Etruscan deity, also venerated by other populations of central Italy (Capenates, Faliscans, Latins and Sabines) and later adopted into ancient Roman religion.

Name and attributes

The theonym[1] Śuri (Etruscan: 𐌉𐌛𐌖𐌑, romanized: Śuri, from Etruscan: 𐌛𐌖𐌑, romanized: Śur, lit. 'black'),[2][3][4][5][6] cognate to Surtr (Old Norse: Surtr, lit. 'black')[7] and latinized as Soranus, means both 'black' and 'from the black [place]', i.e. the Underworld.[2][4][5][6]

Primarily the god of volcanoes and fire, which were associated with the underworld,[8] Śuri also was the chthonic god of the Sun and light,[lower-alpha 1] as well as an oracular god, with powers over health and plague;[8] as god of volcanic lightning, he's thought to have been among the Novensiles, the nine Etruscan thunder gods.[3][6]

His sacred animals were wolves and goats.[lower-alpha 2]

Epithets and Greco-Roman equivalents

Śuri had many epithets,[3][4] among them Calu,[9][10][4] Manth,[11][3][4] Rath,[3][4][12] Usil[13] and Vetis,[14][4] but also Greco-Roman epithets.

By interpretatio graeca, Śuri was identified with both the underworld god Dīs Pater/Hades (Epic Greek: Ἄϊδης, romanized: Áïdēs; Etruscan: 𐌀𐌕𐌉𐌀, romanized: Aita)[3][4][15][16][8] and the sun god Apollo (Etruscan: 𐌖𐌋𐌖𐌐𐌀, romanized: Apulu);[3][4][17][18][9][8][19] their names are associated on Pyrgi inscriptions too.[20][3] After his cult had been syncretised with Apollo, the Romans also nicknamed him Apollo Soranus[10] or Apollo Soractis.[17]

Worship

Cult centers

The center of his cult was Mount Soracte, a sacred mountain located north of Rome, in an area characterized by deep karst cavities and secondary volcanic phenomena; these phenomena were associated in antiquity with underworld deities,[8] hence the area was sacred to underworld gods, such as the Roman Dīs Pater, with whom Soranus is sometimes identified.[15] Other centers dedicated to this deity were the ancient twin cities of Surina (Soriano) and Surina (Viterbo), in the present-day province of Viterbo, Lazio, and the city of Sorano, in the province of Grosseto, Tuscany.[3][5][6]

Worshippers

The priests of Soranus were called Hirpi Sorani[10][21][5][6] ("wolves of Soranus", from Sabine: hirpus, lit. 'wolf').

Servius has preserved the following legend about them: once, during a sacrifice to Dīs Pater, several wolves ran up to the altar and stole the sacrificial pieces. The shepherds gave chase and ran to a cave – into Mount Soracte – from which such suffocating fumes emanated that those who pursued fell dead. The pestilence that soon spread throughout the country was connected with the death of the shepherds, while the oracle, to whom they turned for advice on how to get rid of the plague, replied that the plague would stop as soon as the inhabitants, like wolves, began to lead a robber life. These people took the name Hirpi Sorani (from Sabine: hirpus, lit. 'wolf') and devoted themselves to the cult of the god Soranus, who was later identified with Dīs Pater due the volcanic properties of the mountain and the underground nature of the god.[15][8]

They were firewalkers; during the ceremonies, they walked on hot coals, holding the entrails of sacrificed goats.[15][18][22][23][6] They were also considered skillful ornithomantists.[8]

During the annual festivities in honor of Apollo Soranus and Feronia, they walked barefoot among burning logs without being burned, for which they were forever released by the Roman Senate from military service and other liturgies.[8] The Lupercalia, in the Roman religion, probably derive from these priests.[10]

Partners

He had two female partners: his Etruscan consort Catha (or Cavatha), goddess of Moon and Underworld;[16][24][3] and his Faliscan sister-in-law Feronia, whose major sanctuary[lower-alpha 3] was located near Mount Soracte.[23][19]

See also

Annotated links
  • Dīs Pater – Roman god of the underworld
  • Catha (mythology) – Etruscan goddess
  • Feronia (mythology) – Italic goddess of wilderness and liberty
  • Fufluns – Etruscan god of growth
  • Orcus – Roman god of the underworld
  • Surtr – Norse mythical character

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ A black sun, i.e. a sun god of the underworld,[5][6] rather that a celestial god, was also defined by the Etruscans as Tinia Calusna (Jupiter of the Underworld = Zeus Chthonios).[6]
  2. ↑ See § Worshippers.
  3. ↑ Latin: Lucus Feroniae.

References

Bibliography

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Further reading

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