Aita
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Aita (Template:Langx), also spelled Eita (Template:Langx), is an epithet of the Etruscan chthonic fire god ŚuriTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn as god of the underworld, roughly equivalent to the Greek god Hades (Template:Langx).Template:Sfn
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[edit]Aita is a relatively late addition to the Etruscan pantheon, appearing in iconography and in Etruscan text beginning in the 4th century BC, and is heavily influenced by his Greek counterpart, Hades.Template:Sfn<ref>Helmut Rix, 1991. Etruskische Texte. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.</ref> Aita is pictured in only a few instances in Etruscan tomb painting, such as in the Golini Tomb from Orvieto and the tomb of Orcus II from Tarquinia.Template:Sfn In these tomb paintings, he is shown with his consort Persipnei (Template:Langx), also spelled Phersipnai (Template:Langx), the Etruscan equivalent to the Greek Persephone.Template:Sfn
Although Aita is very rarely depicted, he may appear enthroned and sometimes wears a wolf cap, borrowing a key attribute from the earlier Etruscan underworld wolf-deity, named Calu.Template:Sfn Other examples of Aita in Etruscan art depict his abduction of Persipnei. Aside from tomb painting, Aita may be identified in a few examples in other media, including on a 4th-century painted vase from Vulci, two 2nd century alabaster ash urns from Volterra, and a Red Figure 4thTemplate:En dash3rd century Oinochoe.Template:Sfn