Tarchon
Etruscan · mortal · villanovan · mortal
Tarchon is the founder-hero of Etruria: with his brother Tyrrhenus he is said to have laid out the dodecapolis, the league of twelve cities, and his name is that of Tarquinia and of the Roman Tarquins. He is also remembered as a haruspex, in one account taught the art by Tyrrhenus — which places him beside Tages, the child-seer of Tarquinia already in this registry, at the origin of Etruscan divination. Virgil brings him into the Aeneid as king of the Tyrrhenians, leading the Etruscan contingent in alliance with Aeneas. He is recorded as a mortal culture hero, which is how the tradition presents him; no divine parentage is attested and none is supplied.
Domains
- city founding
- divination
Relations
- sibling: Tyrrhenus
Sources
- Virgil, Aeneid, on Tarchon as king of the Tyrrhenians.
- Reference article 'Tarchon', on the founding of the dodecapolis, the brotherhood with Tyrrhenus and the haruspical art.