Tyrrhenus

Tyrrhenus ( agr Τυρρηνός, Tyrrhenos; Τυρσηνός, Tyrsēnós ) is according to legend, the ancestor of the Etruscans. He is said to have led the Etruscans from Lydia to Etruria.

In Lydia even crop failure should have triggered a famine. King Atys divided the people into two parts, and had his two sons Lydius and Tyrrhenus on to lead each one. After they had drawn lots, Lydus remained with his subjects on the spot, while Tyrrhenus did a part of Smyrna over the sea to Umbria. The legend is in their best-known version in Herodotus, learned over the centuries, but numerous modifications and embellishments. According to him, or the Greek name for the Etruscans, Tyrrhenoi, the Tyrrhenian Sea is named.

Comments

• Etruscan mythology
• Literary Figure