Tyrrhenians
The
Tyrrhenians (
Attic Greek TurrÄ"noi) or
Tyrsenians (
Ionic TursÄ"noi,
Doric TursÄnoi) is an
exonym used by
Greek authors to refer to a non-Greek people.
The origin of the name is uncertain. It is only known to be used by Greek authors, but apparently not of Greek origin. It has been connected to
tursis, also a "Mediterranean" loan into Greek, meaning "
tower" (see there). Direct connections with
Tusci, the Latin exonym for the
Etruscans, from
Turs-ci were also attempted (Heubeck Praegraeca 65 f.) See also
Turan,
tyrant.
Hesiod (
Theogony 1015) has
And they [the sons of Circe ] ruled over the famous Tyrsenians, very far off in a recess of the holy islands. The
Homeric hymn to
Dionysus (verses 7f.) has Tyrsenian pirates seizing Dionysus,
Presently there came swiftly over the sparkling sea Tyrsenian pirates on a well-decked ship — a miserable doom led them on.In the
6th to
5th centuries BC, the name referred to the
Etruscans, for whom the
Tyrrhenian Sea is named. There is a Greek-Etruscan bilingue at
Delphi from this period where the Etruscan tribal name
Velthanes is rendered as
Tyrrhenoi in Greek. In
Pindar (
Pythian Odes 1.72), the
Tyrsanoi appear grouped with the
Carthaginians as a threat to
Magna Graecia:
I entreat you, son of Cronus, grant that the battle-shouts of the Carthaginians and Etruscans
stay quietly at home, now that they have seen their arrogance bring lamentation to their ships off Cumae.
The name is also attested in a fragment by Sophocles (Inachus'', fr. 256).
The name becomes increasingly associated with the generic
Pelasgians.
Herodotus (1.57) places them in
Crestonia in
Thrace, as neighbours of the Pelasgians. Similarly,
Thucydides (4.106) mentions them together with the Pelasgians and associates them with
Lemnian pirates and with the pre-Greek population of
Attica.
Lemnos remained relatively free of Greek influence up to Hellenistic times, and interestingly, the
Lemnos stele of the 6th century BC is inscribed with a language very similar to
Etruscan. This has led to the postulation of a "
Tyrrhenian language group" comprising Etruscan, Lemnian and
Raetic.
There is thus linguistic evidence that there was indeed at least a linguistic relationship between the Lemnians and the Etruscans. The circumstances of this are disputed; while the majority of scholars would ascribe Aegean Tyrrhenians to the Etruscan expansion from the 8th to 6th centuries, putting the homeland of the Etruscans in
Italy and the
Alps particularly because of their relation to the Alpine Raetic population.
A minority would derive the Etruscans from a 10th century invasion from the
Aegean and
Anatolia imposing itself over the Italic
Villanovan culture, claiming an
Anatolian affiliation of the
Etruscan language. This latter school of thought may point to the legend of
Lydian origin of the Etruscans referred to by Herodotus (1.94), and the statement of
Livy that the Raetians were Etruscans driven into the mountains by the invading
Gauls. Proponents of the majority opinion may point to the very scanty evidence of a linguistic connection of Etruscan even with Indo-European, let alone Anatolian in particular, and to
Dionysios of Halicarnassos who decidedly argues against an Etruscan-Lydian relationship.
