In Etruscan religion and myth, Thalna was a divine figure usually regarded as a goddess of childbirth. Determinate gender, however, is not necessarily a characteristic of Etruscan deities, and Thalna is also either depicted as male,[1] or seems to be identified as a male figure because of the placement of names around a scene. Her other functions include friendship and prophecy. Her name may mean "growth, bloom." She appears in Etruscan art in the company of Turan, Tinia, and Menrva.[2]

On Etruscan bronze mirrors Thalna is present and looking on in scenes pertaining to birth and infancy.[3]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Nancy Thomson de Grummond, Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2006), pp. 21, 155.
  2. ^ De Grummond, Etruscan Myth, p. 150.
  3. ^ De Grummond, Etruscan Myth, pp. 61, with illustrations pp. 63, 65, 81.