Etruscans Now
Mythology
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Kristen Lee Hostetler - Field Director, Poggio Civitate, Murlo
Serpent iconography
Serpent iconography is nearly universal in both time and place often showing similarities in meaning and form. In this paper, I hope to show that the Etruscans, too, placed the serpent within their religion and art. Serpent iconography can be found in great abundance in the painted tombs of the third and second centuries in Etruria. After the appearance of the Tomb of the Blue Demons the demons themselves took on several of the characteristics of the serpent incorporating them into their own bodies. In addition I will argue that the Etruscans not only included serpents in their view of the underworld but a specific serpent: the adder (Vipera berus berus).