In chapter 6 we turn to the written myths of other Italian societies. In some ways, this means that this chapter is closely related to chapter 4: we are no longer interested in myths that focus on Rome. Yet in other ways, chapter 6 is quite different. As in other chapters, these myths were written down, and our knowledge of them is primarily through writing. Sometimes, these myths were written down by locals – but not always. In cases where Greek and Roman authors related the myths of foreign cities, there was usually a reason beyond mere curiosity. These external motives mean that our picture of Italian myth is partial: the stories that we know are usually the stories that were familiar or important to mainland Greece and to Rome.
While it's possible to divide Italy into subcultures by language, myths cross these boundaries. You'll notice many of the same motifs recurring in multiple stories. Nonetheless, it's helpful to remember as you read that these were distinct and heterogeneous societies with different ethnic backgrounds and relationships with Rome.
The coast of Italy was settled by Greeks starting c. 800 BCE, and there's evidence that Mycenaean traders visited the islands c. 1200 (Ridgway 1992, 3–10). So there was plenty of time for the inhabitants of these areas to learn Greek myths and teach Greeks their stories. Like Romans, the Italians of South Italy and Sicily had their own local traditions about their origins and customs. As Greeks and natives intermarried, these traditions evolved away from the myths known on the Greek mainland into new tales. We have few records of these purely local myths, but there are a variety of Greek myths which seem to have been altered to fit local taste. Although the highly Hellenized residents of southern Italy and Sicily certainly knew a range of myths, in this chapter we'll focus on those that take place in Italy.
Etruscan myths are quite different. The native Etruscan material that has come down to us is almost entirely archaeological. Although Etruscans did write narratives, these have now been lost; most written evidence from Etruria comes in the form of inscriptions (on statues, mirrors, funerary urns, etc.). This writing is not necessarily representative of Etruscan literary production in antiquity. But by the turn of the first century, when our evidence for Roman myth is strongest, knowledge of Etruscan was fading. The majority of recorded Etruscan myth was written by non-Etruscans (usually Romans, but occasionally Greeks). Modern scholars hold a range of opinions about how well this Greco-Roman material represents contemporary or archaic Etruscan culture.
Finally, the myths of Latium may be the most mysterious of all. Latium was the first area to be subjected to Roman expansion. As a result, most of their written mythological production took place under Roman control. We know the names of many local gods and heroes, but often nothing else. Additionally, since Rome was a part of Latium, it's difficult to determine whether Latin myths and Roman myths shared the same themes, or whether (and how) they were different.
The myths of this chapter, although coming from different parts of Italy, share some common points. The most common thread is that many of them are foundation myths for a particular city. Foundation myths have been extensively analyzed by scholars interested in Greek colonization, both in Italy and elsewhere. These scholars argue that Greek foundation myths seek to rationalize new parts of the world by assimilating the inhabitants to known players in the Greek mythic universe. For example, such myths were used to connect Italians to mainland Greece via Evander of Arcadia (2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.6, 2.1.8, 2.2.2, 2.2.4–2.2.8). Other major figures were Hercules, who traveled across the Mediterranean to perform his labors, and the heroes of the Trojan War, who frequently got lost on their way home. In Italy, Persephone offered another important link to the Greek mainland. Several authors maintained that she was kidnapped by Hades in Sicily, and various locations were associated with that myth.
Foundation myths are a common aspect of Greek mythological production, but they also helped non-Greek societies identify themselves with nearby non-Greek neighbors. When such myths aren't explicitly about foundations, they're called “kinship” myths. Kinship myths offer a way for cities to link themselves to other cities using myth. A foundation myth is a subtype of kinship myth that connects a new city to its metropolis. A kinship myth can take place at any point in the city's history, not just the foundation, and it can connect any number of cities with bonds of mythic kinship (such as “descent from Hercules”), not just a colony with its metropolis. These two types of myth aren't mutually exclusive, and most cities would have had myths that served both functions.
Latium, Etruria, and southern Italy gradually came under Roman power. It was a long process, beginning in the fifth century and fully completed only at the beginning of the Principate. Roman myth reflects this, with the city's kings fighting Etruscan and Latin cities yearly (see chapter 5 for Rome's first major conquests in Latium, and chapter 8 for Rome's first major conquests in Etruria). The harsh fighting in some cases led to the loss of native myths, which now appear only in tantalizing references. Many of the themes will nonetheless be familiar to you: traveling Hercules, nymphs, and local heroes. Others have no precise parallels. It is up to you to weigh the stories and their sources carefully: what can these myths tell us about local civilizations?
TEXTS
Rome's substantial foundation tradition provides the bulk of material in chapters 2 and 3. We can study it because it survives in detail. Other Italian foundation myths are alluded to only in brief terms. Although many are somewhat similar to Rome's foundation legend, others are quite different.
Like the Roman foundation stories, these myths were once substantially more detailed and connected a city to the Greek mythic universe. Over time and in the words of different mythographers, these myths would have varied. We only rarely have access to variant narratives; sometimes, that variant comes from the metropolis itself. What might that suggest about the relationship between a colony and its homeland?
Hercules (2.2, 4.1, 4.2) was one of Greece's greatest heroes. He traveled all over the world, was generally benevolent, and occasionally had accidents that endeared him to mere mortals (a familiar joke in Greece centered on muscular Hercules’ constant hunger). So it's not surprising that many cities in Italy claimed that Hercules visited them. Although we know most about Rome's claim to Hercules, we also have substantial evidence for Hercules outside of Rome. The literary evidence comes from Sicily. Diodorus Siculus’ local legend is surprisingly similar to Rome's, and may suggest that cities in Italy competed over their Herculean credentials.
For his tenth labor, Hercules traveled from Greece to the Straits of Gibraltar (the ‘Pillars of Hercules’ in antiquity) and across to Spain, where he stole the cattle of Geryon. This was a popular topic of Greek vase painting (over 100 examples survive). On his way back to Greece, he drove the cattle through Italy, encountering many populations. The most elaborate story of Hercules we have involves his fight with the monster Cacus around Rome (2.2.1–2.2.3, 2.2.6–2.2.8). Despite the similarities of name, it's unlikely that Cacus and Cacu (4.6.2–4.6.3) are related (for a contrasting view, see Small 1982).
Diomedes was a Greek hero of the Trojan War. Like Hercules and Odysseus, he was credited with extensive travels. In most accounts, he never made it home to Greece. He married a local woman in Italy and had several sons, who likewise became founders of cities.
Outside of Rome, there are few Italian cities for which we have even one detailed myth. But we know three about Locri: the miraculous cicadas, the boxer Euthymus’ fight with a ghost (the Hero of Temesa), and the appearance of the divine twins Castor and Pollux during the long war between Locri and Croton in the south of Italy. Modern scholars and ancient authors agreed that the main battle of this war, which took place at the Sagra river, was suspiciously similar to the Roman battle of Regillus (8.5).
According to Roman legend, Romulus and Remus founded Rome partly to deal with excess population in Alba (3.2, 3.3). Ancient sources attribute similar customs to other Italian cities. In a “Sacred Spring,” men born in a given year would leave home to settle elsewhere. There are some historical records for the practice (6.5.3), but these are late and may represent false “revivals” of a non-existent tradition, much like the Scottish tartans revived in the nineteenth century. The rituals involved in a “Sacred Spring” remain mysterious, but the rationale is similar to Greek colonization.
The tale of Caeculus, the founder of Praeneste, shares several themes with the Roman foundation myth. These similarities may explain why Roman authors retold his story. Caeculus was conceived by a god in a supernatural manner (compare 3.1 and 5.4.3) and was exposed by his family because of his illegitimate birth. But he was rescued and reared. As an adult, he led a band of cattle rustlers and perhaps staged his own abduction of local women. Because Praeneste is close to Rome, these common themes suggest culturally important values for founders in this part of Italy.
The Etruscan Vertumnus, like the Greek Proteus, was a shape-shifting god. But while Proteus was associated with the sea and its changing tides, Vertumnus was associated with the land and seasonal changes.
The myths of central and southern Italy (and to a lesser extent, those of Etruria) occupy an unusual position between Roman and Greek tales. We hear about them from a variety of sources, most of which casually refer to myths that are no longer known. Our sources expect their readers to know the details, or to be able to find them. As modern readers, we often can't. We get an idea of what we've lost from the works of Diodorus Siculus and Servius. Diodorus is proud to tell the Greek-speaking world about the culture and myths of his native city and their neighbors, and gives us valuable details about the customs of Sicily and southern Italy. Servius, in turn, attempts to fill in the cultural background of Vergil's Aeneid for students who know basic Greek myths but were less well-informed about the culture of pre-Roman Italy.
Yet even the assumption that these myths were known can be valuable to us. They tell us that the myths of Latium, Etruria, and southern Italy slowly became integrated into the mythic universe of Rome and the Greek mainland. The cities of Italy share certain motifs that helped them establish ties of kinship and diplomacy – or rivalry – with each other. For example, many cities could boast that they were visited by Hercules, Odysseus or Diomedes, or a Trojan hero such as Aeneas and Antenor. They may have debated which city hosted the hero first, or simply agreed to disagree. Most cities also had a local founder or hero, whose adventures predated the Greeks’ arrival. Local heroes tended to cluster around identifiable features in the landscape: rivers, mountains, or forests that were unusual in some way and therefore seemed divine.
You may have noticed that these motifs sound very similar to the myths of another city: Rome. It's not accidental. Although Roman myths are by far the most numerous because of Rome's position of dominance in the Mediterranean, the stories themselves are very typical of Italian legend. This cultural koine, or common ground, was part of what helped Rome succeed as an empire.
Offers chapters devoted to the cultures of individual Italian societies, organized by region. The authors offer a helpful historical background to the myths highlighted in this chapter (as well as chapter 4). The material evidence is well-presented, and the discussion of cultural exchange is excellent.
Establishes a pattern in the foundation myths of Greek colonies, with a particular focus on the archaic period. The book needs to be read as a whole to be fully appreciated, and the topics are occasionally difficult to understand because of their complexity. But students who are interested in Greek colonization will find their effort rewarded.
Examines the Greek foundations in southern Italy in particular. He argues that Greek foundation myths serve two purposes: to make a community of Greek and non-Greek populations, and to connect that community to the Greek world as a whole.
Offers a general introduction to foundation myths as a way for ancient societies to construct their ethnic identity. The chapters feature individual case studies from around the Mediterranean; only two (Donnellan and Squire) center on Italy. The comparative approach is a helpful way to place these Italian stories in a broader context, as they would have been in antiquity.
Despite being focused on the eastern Mediterranean, this book is valuable as one of the few undergraduate-friendly works on kinship diplomacy. Patterson analyzes how Greeks used myth to construct diplomatic relationships, while questioning the extent to which belief in these myths was important to diplomatic success.