Persipnei
Etruscan · deity · archaic · Recorded classification
Etruscan queen of the underworld, the counterpart of Greek Persephone and Roman Proserpina, and consort of Aita. Named and shown enthroned beside Aita (often with snakes in her hair) in the 4th-century-BCE painted tombs at Tarquinia (Tomb of Orcus II) and Orvieto (Golini Tomb I). Her name is a Greek loan naturalized into Etruscan. Carried in the registry implicitly (Aita's prose names "Phersipnei" enthroned beside him) until materialized here.
Domains
- underworld queenship
Powers
- Reign as queen of the underworld
Relations
- spouse: AitaConsort and co-enthroned queen of Aita, the Etruscan reflex of the Hades–Persephone pairing.Tomb of Orcus II, Tarquinia, and Golini Tomb I, Orvieto, showing Phersipnai enthroned beside Aita (primary)
Sources
- existence: Wall-paintings of the Tomb of Orcus II, Tarquinia (4th c. BCE), and the Golini Tomb I near Orvieto, with the Etruscan label phersipnai (primary); N. de Grummond, Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend (2006), ch. on the underworld (secondary)