Catha
Etruscan · deity · archaic · Recorded classification
Catha, also written Cavatha, holds the eighth of the sixteen regions on the Liver of Piacenza and is named in sanctuary dedications, so she was a goddess a haruspex and a worshipper both had to know. A Latin gloss calls her Solis Filia, daughter of the Sun, and she is also called the Eye of the Sun; yet she carries an underworld association as well, and modern treatments describe her as lunar about as often as solar. The record keeps the epithets, keeps the underworld link, and leaves the question open rather than resolving it by preference.
Variant accounts
- Catha's solar or lunar character is unresolved.She is called daughter and eye of the Sun, which points solar; other readings make her lunar, and she also carries an underworld association and a possible link to childbirth. The record keeps all of these as reported and does not choose between them, because the evidence does not.Reference article 'Catha (mythology)', presenting her as a lunar or solar deity with an underworld connection. (secondary)
Domains
- sun and light
- underworld
Epithets
- Solis FiliaLatin gloss rendering Catha 'daughter of the Sun', reported in the reference article 'Catha'. (secondary)
- Eye of the SunReference article 'Catha', on the epithet 'Eye of the Sun'. (secondary)
Relations
- ally: UsilAttached to the sun by her epithets; because the sources do not settle whether she is solar or lunar, the tie is recorded as cult association rather than as descent from Usil.Reference article 'Catha': the epithets Solis Filia and 'Eye of the Sun' attach her to the sun, though her own solar or lunar character is disputed. (secondary)
Sources
- Catha (also Cavatha) is an Etruscan goddess named in the eighth region of the Liver of Piacenza and in sanctuary dedications, glossed in Latin as Solis Filia, 'daughter of the Sun', and 'Eye of the Sun', with a connection to the underworld and possibly to childbirth; whether she is solar or lunar is disputed.: Liver of Piacenza (2nd-1st c. BCE), Museo Civico, Piacenza. (archaeological); Reference article 'Catha (mythology)', on the epithets, the underworld link and the solar/lunar dispute. (secondary)