Latinus, the Mysterious Son of Odysseus Who Ruled Over the Etruscans

Odysseus slays the suitors successful his palace with his lad Telemachus and returns to his beloved woman Penelope, who had waited for him for 20 years. Credit: Painting by Jean Alaux (1812) Public Domain

In Greek legend, the celebrated leader Odysseus is said to person had a lad named Latinus. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, Odysseus’ son, Latinus, ruled arsenic king implicit the Etruscans on with 2 of his brothers. However, does this mean that helium was the king of past Italy? And tin helium beryllium identified arsenic the Latinus from Virgil’s Aeneid?

Odysseus’ son, Latinus, king of the Etruscans successful Hesiod’s Theogony

The earliest notation of Odysseus having a lad named Latinus who ruled arsenic king implicit the Etruscans appears in Theogony. The writer of this past enactment was Hesiod, a celebrated Greek writer of the seventh period BCE. According to Hesiod:

“Circe the girl of Helius, Hyperion’s son, loved steadfast Odysseus and bare Agrius and Latinus who was faultless and strong: besides she brought distant Telegonus by the volition of aureate Aphrodite. And they ruled implicit the celebrated Tyrrhenians, precise acold disconnected successful a recess of the beatified islands.”

This transition reveals respective important details astir Latinus. Firstly, it reveals that helium was the lad of Odysseus by Circe. She was an enchantress oregon nymph who lived connected an land adjacent the entranceway to the Underworld. Evidence suggests that the land successful question was Paxos, adjacent the oracle of the dormant by the Acheron River successful Epirus.

Secondly, this shows that Latinus had 2 afloat brothers, Agrius and Telegonus. Finally, Latinus, lad of Odysseus, supposedly ruled, on with his 2 brothers, implicit the Tyrrhenians, oregon Etruscans.

The recognition of Odysseus’ lad with the Latinus of Virgil’s Aeneid

One large enigma surrounding Odysseus’ lad Latinus is whether helium was identical to the Latinus who appears successful Virgil’s Aeneid. Virgil, a Roman writer, wrote this communicative successful the archetypal period BCE. It tells the communicative of Aeneas’ travels aft the Trojan War.

According to Virgil, Aeneas met a king of the Latins successful Italy, fittingly named Latinus. He was the eponymous king of the tribes implicit whom helium ruled. His daughter, Lavinia, yet joined Aeneas, and the Trojan companions of Aeneas became agreed with the autochthonal Latins of Italy.

Was Latinus, lad of Odysseus, identical to Latinus, king of the Latins successful Virgil’s Aeneid? Many modern sources, though not all, instrumentality this stance. This seems evident due to the fact that Hesiod presents Odysseus’ lad Latinus arsenic the king of the Etruscans, who lived conscionable adjacent to the Latins successful Italy.

Differences betwixt the 2 kings

As galore modern scholars acknowledge, determination are superior problems with equating these 2 kings, called Latinus. Certainly, if they were meant to beryllium identical, the 2 accounts astir them are wholly inconsistent with each other.

The astir evident quality is that Virgil presents King Latinus of the Latins arsenic being the lad of Faunus, a Roman god. He does not contiguous Latinus arsenic being Odysseus’ son, nor does helium notation him ruling implicit the Etruscans.

There is besides a superior chronological issue. As we saw, Odysseus’ lad Latinus was calved to him by Circe. According to Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus sojourned connected Circe’s land adjacent the opening of his 10-year travel location from Troy. Therefore, his lad Latinus indispensable person been calved lone a fewer years aft the Trojan War.

However, this is astir the aforesaid clip arsenic erstwhile Aeneas is expected to person arrived successful Italy. Yet, by that point, King Latinus of the Latins was already a reasonably aged king with an big daughter.

According to chronology, ancestry, and associated nations, Virgil’s Latinus and Hesiod’s Latinus look to beryllium wholly chiseled entities.

Was Odysseus’ lad Latinus truly king implicit the Etruscans successful Italy?

Does this mean that successful Italy, successful the decades pursuing the Trojan War, determination were 2 abstracted kings named Latinus ruling almost successful the aforesaid spot and almost astatine the aforesaid time? In reality, determination is simply a bully lawsuit to beryllium made that Hesiod was not presenting Odysseus’ son, Latinus, arsenic a king successful Italy.

As we saw successful the quotation from Theogony, Latinus and his brothers supposedly ruled implicit the Etruscans “very acold disconnected successful a recess of the beatified islands.” This statement does not lucifer Italy.

This indicates that the Etruscans whom Latinus ruled implicit were not the ones who lived successful Italy. Ancient Greek sources contiguous the Etruscans arsenic being contiguous successful respective antithetic parts of the Mediterranean, which is accordant with this conclusion.

Where did Latinus’ Etruscans truly live?

Recall that Circe appears to person lived connected the land of Paxos, conscionable disconnected the seashore of Epirus, occidental Greece. Was determination a determination adjacent that land that was said to person been inhabited by the Etruscans? As it happens, determination are respective past sources which notation to that nonstop portion of Epirus, adjacent the Acheron River, arsenic being inhabited by the Pelasgians.

We person seen this successful sources specified arsenic Herodotus, Strabo, and adjacent arsenic aboriginal arsenic Homer successful his Odyssey. Strabo, for instance, mentions:

“And galore person called besides the tribes of Epirus ‘Pelasgian’, due to the fact that successful their sentiment the Pelasgi extended their regularisation adjacent arsenic acold arsenic that.”

The value of this is that past sources often usage the word ‘Pelasgian’ arsenic a synonym for ‘Tyrrhenian’—that is, the Etruscans. It did not ever mean this, of course. Sometimes, it referred to the pre-Greek inhabitants of Greece. Often, it is intolerable to cognize which meaning is intended successful immoderate fixed passage.

Hesiod’s notation of Odysseus’ son, Latinus, governing the Tyrrhenians oregon Etruscans, whitethorn good link with humanities allusions to the Pelasgians successful Epirus. This portion was adjacent to the land associated with Latinus’s mythological mother, Circe.

Furthermore, Hesiod’s usage of the wording “far disconnected successful a recess of the beatified islands” is reminiscent of Homer’s statement of Dodona successful Epirus arsenic being “far off” oregon “distant” successful the Iliad, Book 16.

On these bases, this was apt the existent territory of Hesiod’s Latinus. In different words, Latinus, lad of Odysseus, king of the Etruscans, was astir apt expected to person ruled successful Epirus.