Fufluns

In Etruscan mythology, Fufluns (or Puphluns) was a god of plant life, happiness, wine, health and growth in all things. He is mentioned twice among the gods listed in the inscriptions of the Liver of Piacenza, being listed among the 16 gods that rule the Etruscan astrological houses. He is the 9th of those 16 gods. He is the son of Semla and the god Tinia. He was worshipped at Populonia (Etruscan “Fufluna” or “Pupluna”) and is the namesake of that town.

Fufluns is usually depicted as a beardless youth, but is sometimes rarely shown as an older, bearded man. Fufluns was shown in art with the Thyrsus, Satyrs, Maenads, and other apotropaic symbols.

His Greek equivalent is Dionysus, whereas his Roman equivalent is Bacchus/Liber.For this reason he was also called Fufluns Pachies or Pacha. He was adopted by the Romans but was quickly meshed with Bacchus and his rituals were changed heavily by the influence of Dionysian frenzies.

Fufluns is associated with several other deities in art, including Apulu (Apollo) who is considered his brother and his mother Semla. In association with them, Fufluns was sometimes seen as a chthonic deity associated with the underworld and a psychopomp that guided and protected souls. Fufluns was additionally associated with a purely Etruscan goddess named Catha.

Fufluns shares many myths with Dionysus, including the story of his birth, which parallels the story of Zeus and Semele. Like that myth, the pregnant Semla is killed by Tinia in the form of lightning bolt, who then continues to bear Fufluns by sewing the infant into his thigh and later giving birth to him. However, Semla continues to appear in artwork in association with an adult Fufluns after her death, indicating either a resurrection or immortalization of his mother.

Additionally, Fufluns’s connection to his mother is sometimes cast as romantic, as seen in artwork that shows them in an embrace used elsewhere in Etruscan artwork to indicate erotic entanglement.

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Wikipedia