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{{Short description|Etruscan god of growth}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Etruscan
| name = Fufluns
| deity_of = God of plant life, happiness, wine, health, and growth
| other_names = Puphluns; Fufluns Pachies / Pacha
| script_name = Etruscan
| script = 𐌚𐌖𐌚𐌋𐌖𐌍𐌔 / 𐌐𐌖𐌘𐌋𐌖𐌍𐌔
| venerated_in = [[Etruscan religion]]
| cult_centre = [[Populonia]] (''Fufluna'' / ''Pupluna'')
| abode =
| weapon = [[Thyrsus]]
| animals = [[Satyr|Satyrs]] (companions)
| symbol = [[Thyrsus]]
| attributes = Wine, vegetation, health, psychopomp functions
| associated_deities = [[Apulu]], Catha, [[Semla (mythology)|Semla]]
| gender = Male
| parents = [[Tinia]] and [[Semla (mythology)|Semla]]
| siblings = [[Apulu]]
| consort = Areatha; sometimes associated with [[Semla (mythology)|Semla]]
| greek_equivalent = [[Dionysus|Dionysos]]
| roman_equivalent = [[Liber]]
}}
In [[Etruscan religion]], '''Fufluns''' ({{langx|ett|𐌚𐌖𐌚𐌋𐌖𐌍𐌔}}) or '''Puphluns''' ({{langx|ett|𐌐𐌖𐌘𐌋𐌖𐌍𐌔}}) was a god of plant life, happiness, wine, health, and growth in all things. He is mentioned twice among the gods listed in the inscriptions of the [[Liver of Piacenza]], being listed among the 16{{nbs}}gods that rule the Etruscan astrological houses. He is the 9th of those 16{{nbs}}gods.<ref name="Grummond2006">Thomson, De Grummond Nancy, Myth and Sacred History, 2006, p.{{nbs}}113</ref> He is the son of [[Semla (mythology)|Semla]] and the god [[Tinia]]. He was worshipped at [[Populonia]] (Etruscan ''Fufluna'' or ''Pupluna'') and is the namesake of that town.<ref>Grummond and Simon, 2006, p.{{nbs}}21</ref>

His Greek equivalent is [[Dionysos]] (Latin Dionysus), whereas his Roman equivalent is [[Liber]]. For this reason he was also called Fufluns Pachies or Pacha.<ref name="Grummond2006"/> He was adopted by the Romans but was quickly meshed with Dionysus and his rituals were changed heavily by the influence of Dionysian frenzies.<ref>Thomson, De Grummond Nancy, Myth, Sacred History, 2006, p.{{nbs}}114</ref>

==Iconography==
Fufluns is usually depicted as a beardless youth, but is sometimes rarely shown as an older, bearded man. Fufluns was shown in art with the [[thyrsus]], [[satyr]]s, [[maenad]]s, and other [[apotropaic magic|apotropaic symbols]].<ref>Bonfante and Swaddling, 2006, p. 54</ref><ref>Paleothodoros, 2007, p.{{nbs}}187</ref>

Fufluns is associated with several other deities in art, including [[Apulu]] ([[Apollo]]) who is considered his brother and his mother Semla.<ref>Grummond and Simon, 2006, p.{{nbs}}58</ref> In association with them, Fufluns was sometimes seen as a [[chthonic]] deity associated with the underworld and a [[psychopomp]] that guided and protected souls.<ref>Grummond and Simon, 2006, p.{{nbs}}77</ref> Fufluns was additionally associated with a purely Etruscan goddess named Catha.<ref>Grummond and Simon, 2006, p.{{nbs}}59</ref>
[[File:Illustrerad Verldshistoria band II Ill 008.png|thumb|right|Depicting, from left to right; a satyr, Apulu, Fufluns and his mother Semla.]]

==Myths==
Fufluns shares many myths with Dionysus, including the story of his birth, which parallels the story of [[Zeus]] and Semele.<ref name="Thomson2006p2">Thomson, De Grummond Nancy, Myth and Sacred History, 2006, p.{{nbs}}116</ref><ref>Bonfante and Swaddling, 2006, p.{{nbs}}52</ref> Like that myth, the pregnant Semla is killed by Tinia in the form of a lightning bolt, who then continues to bear Fufluns by sewing the infant into his thigh and later giving birth to him.<ref>Bonfante, 2016, ln.{{nbs}}12</ref> However, Semla continues to appear in artwork in association with an adult Fufluns after her death, indicating either a resurrection or immortalization of his mother.<ref>Bonfante and Swaddling, 2006, p.{{nbs}}74</ref>

Additionally, Fufluns's connection to his mother is sometimes cast as romantic, as seen in artwork that shows them in an embrace used elsewhere in Etruscan artwork to indicate erotic entanglement.<ref name="Thomson2006p2"/>

Another depiction of a lost myth regarding Fufluns depicts his relationship with Areatha, the Etruscan form of [[Ariadne]]. The bronze mirror shows Fufluns and Areatha but also includes additional figures that are not part of the Greek version of the myth, namely Castur (the Etruscan [[Castor and Pollux|Castor]]), a male figure called Eiasun ([[Jason]]) and a small winged figure identified as Aminth, who is attributed as the personification of love.<ref name="Thomson2006p3">Thomson, de Grummond Nancy, Myth and Sacred History, 2006, p.{{nbs}}119</ref> The implications of the scene are based on a myth that is no longer recorded, but indicate some disagreement between Eiasun and Fufluns in which Areatha is involved.<ref name="Thomson2006p3"/> The myth of Fuflun and Areatha itself follows the traditional Greek myth, in which Areatha is abandoned by [[Theseus]] after helping him escape the labyrinth of Minos. Fufluns then finds Areatha and falls in love with her, and they later marry.<ref>Bonfante and Swaddling, 2006, p.{{nbs}}41</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [[Larissa Bonfante|Bonfante, Larissa]], and [[Judith Swaddling]]. (2006). ''Etruscan Myths''. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
* Bonfante, Larissa. (2015). Etruscan mirrors and the grave. In ''L’écriture Et L’espace De La Mort. Épigraphie Et Nécropoles à L'époque *Préromaine'', edited by Marie-Laurence Haack. Rome, IT: Publications De L’École Française De Rome, 2015. Accessed 22{{nbs}}November 2016. http://books.openedition.org/efr/2741?lang=en.
* Pailler, J.-M. (1989) "Fuluns e Catha: significato di un’associazione divina nella tarda età etrusca." ''Secondo Congresso Internazionale Etrusco'', Firenze, 26 maggio – 2 giugno 1985. Atti III, pp. 1205–1211. Rome: Bretschneider.
* Paleothodoros, Dimitris. (2007). Dionysiac imagery in archaic Etruria. ''Etruscan Studies'', ''10''(1) (1{{nbs}}January 2007). [http://scholarworks.umass.edu/etruscan_studies/vol10/iss1/15 doi:10.1515/etst.2004.10.1.187] Accessed 22{{nbs}}November 2016.
* Pavel, D. (2020) "The image of the god Fufluns – Dionysus as reflected on Etruscan mirrors: a Greek or an Etruscan God?". Revista CICSA online, Serie Nouă VI:41-68. p45.https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=939803
* Thomson, De Grummond Nancy. (2006). ''Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend''. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
* Thomson, De Grummond Nancy, and Erika Simon. (2006). ''The Religion of the Etruscans''. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Etruscan gods]]
[[Category:Etruscan religion]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Fertility gods]]
[[Category:Nature gods]]
[[Category:Alcohol gods]]

Fufluns - Revision history

imported>Zinnober9 at 22:56, 17 December 2025