# Menrva

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{{short description|Etruscan goddess of war, art, wisdom, and medicine}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Etruscan
| name = Menrva
| image = Populonia AR 20 BMC 74000021.jpg
| caption = '''Menrva''' on a [Roman As](/source/As_(Roman_coin)) from [Etruria](/source/Etruria)
| deity_of = Goddess of war, art, wisdom, and health
| abode =
| symbol = 
| consort = [Hercle](/source/Hercle)
| parents = [Uni](/source/Uni_(mythology)) and [Tinia](/source/Tinia)
| siblings =
| children = [Epiur](/source/Epiur)
| mount =
| Greek_equivalent = [Athena](/source/Athena)
| Roman_equivalent = [Minerva](/source/Minerva)
}}
'''Menrva''' (also spelled '''Menerva''' or '''Menfra''') was an [Etruscan goddess](/source/Etruscan_goddess) of war, art, wisdom, and medicine. She contributed much of her character to the [Roman](/source/Roman_mythology) [Minerva](/source/Minerva). She was the child of [Uni](/source/Uni_(mythology)) and [Tinia](/source/Tinia).

Although Menrva was seen by Hellenized Etruscans as their counterpart to [Greek](/source/Greek_mythology) [Athena](/source/Athena),<ref>The process, by analogy with ''[interpretatio graeca](/source/interpretatio_graeca)'', was termed ''interpretatio etrusca'' by L. B. van der Meer, ''Interpretatio Etrusca: Greek Myths on Etruscan Mirrors''(Amsterdam) 1995.</ref> Menrva has some unique traits that make it clear that she was not an import from Greece. Etruscan artists under the influence of Greek culture, however, liked to portray Menrva with [Gorgoneion](/source/Gorgoneion), helmet, spear, and shield, and, on one mirrorback, as bursting from the head of her father, Tinia.<ref>''E.g.'' on a bronze mirrorback, c. 450–425 BCE, from [Praeneste](/source/Praeneste), illustrated in [Larissa Bonfante](/source/Larissa_Bonfante) and [Judith Swaddling](/source/Judith_Swaddling), ''Etruscan Myths'' (Series The Legendary Past, British Museum/University of Texas), 2006, fig. 28, p. 43.</ref> Also, she commonly is seen as the protector of [Hercle](/source/Hercle) (Heracles) and ''Pherse'' ([Perseus](/source/Perseus)).<ref>de Grummond, ''Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend'', page 76</ref> On a bronze mirror found at [Praeneste](/source/Praeneste), she attends Perseus, who consults two [Graeae](/source/Graeae),<ref>Illustrated in Bonfante and Swaddling 2006, fig. 30, p. 45.</ref> and, on another, holds high the head of [Medusa](/source/Medusa), while she and seated Perseus and [Hermes](/source/Hermes) all gaze safely at its reflection in a pool at their feet.<ref>Illustrated in Bonfante and Swaddling 2006, fig. 31, p. 46.</ref> These images are more likely to reflect literary sources than any [cult practice.](/source/Cult_(religion)) On a bronze mirror from [Bolsena](/source/Bolsena), {{Circa|300 BCE}}, she is portrayed attending a scene of Prometheus Unbound with [Esplace (Asclepius)](/source/Asclepius), who bandages Prometheus' chest.<ref>Bonfante and Swaddling 2006, p.38, fig. 23.</ref>

Often, Menrva is depicted in a more essentially Etruscan style, as a lightning thrower. [Martianus](/source/Martianus_Capella) mentions her as one of nine Etruscan lightning deities. Etruscan style works often depict Menrva with a thunderbolt; the thunderbolt imagery seems to be unique to Etruscan Menrva images.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dhar |first=Rittika |date=2022-11-03 |title=Minerva: Roman Goddess of Wisdom and Justice {{!}} History Cooperative |url=https://historycooperative.org/minerva/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |language=en-US}}</ref> The Greeks never attributed an association with weather to Athena,<ref>Nancy Thomson de Grummond, ''Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend'', (Philadelphia, 2006) p.71.</ref> making this another important difference between the two religious cults that demonstrates their separate characteristics.

Menrva's name is indigenous to Italy and might even be of Etruscan origin, stemming from an Italic moon goddess, ''*Meneswā'' 'She who measures'.<ref>Cinaglia, Tiziano. "Minerva et Diana, quas ais pariter colendas ovvero, la connotazione lunare di Minerva". In: ''Dialogues d'histoire ancienne'', vol. 45, n°2, 2019. pp. 222-223. www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_2019_num_45_2_4775</ref> It is thought that the Etruscans adopted the inherited Old Latin name, ''*Menerwā'', thereby calling her Menrva. However, this has been disputed.<ref>de Grummond, ''Etruscan Myth, Sacred History and Legend'', page 71</ref> Carl Becker suggests that her name appears to contain the [PIE](/source/PIE) root ''*men-'', which he notes was linked in Greek primarily to memory words (cf. Greek "mnestis"/μνῆστις 'memory, remembrance, recollection'), but which more generally referred to 'mind' in most Indo-European languages.<ref>Becker, ''A Modern Theory of Language Evolution'' 2004, p. 190: mentions *MN preserved in Greek as "[Mnemosyne](/source/Mnemosyne)"/μνημοσύνη, and Minerva.</ref>

Menrva often was depicted in the [Judgement of Paris](/source/Judgement_of_Paris), called Elcsntre (Alexander, his alternative name in Greek) in [Etruscan](/source/Etruscan_language), one of the most popular Greek myths in Etruria.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Menrva was part of a [triple deity](/source/triple_deity) with Uni and Tinia, later reflected in the Roman [Capitoline Triad](/source/Capitoline_Triad) of [Jupiter](/source/Jupiter_(mythology)), [Juno](/source/Juno_(mythology)), and [Minerva](/source/Minerva).

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
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Category:Arts goddesses
Category:Etruscan goddesses
Category:Etruscan religion
Category:Health goddesses
Category:War goddesses
Category:Wisdom goddesses
Category:Thunder goddesses
Category:Minerva

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Menrva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menrva) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menrva?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.