Menrva

Menrva (also spelled Menerva or Menfra) was an Etruscan goddess of war, art, wisdom, and medicine. She contributed much of her character to the Roman Minerva and like her was eventually seen as a counterpart of the Greek Athena. She was the child of Uni and Tinia. Although Menrva was seen by Hellenized Etruscans as their counterpart to Athena 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, helmet, spear, and shield. Etruscan art show Menrva in much of the same adventures as those of her counterpart, such as being born by bursting from her father's head already fully armed and armored, protecting and aiding heroes such as Hercle (Heracles) and Pherse (Perseus), confronting the dragon (alongside Jason) guarding the Golden Fleece, considering granting immortality to Tydeus before being disgusted by his cannibalism, and partaking in the Judgement of Paris (known to the Etruscans as Elcsntre). On a bronze mirror found at Praeneste, she attends Perseus, who consults two Graeae, and, on another, holds high the head of Medusa, while she and seated Perseus and Hermes all gaze safely at its reflection in a pool at their feet. These images are more likely to reflect literary sources than any cult practice. On a bronze mirror from Bolsena, c. 300 BCE, she is portrayed attending a scene of Prometheus Unbound with Esplace (Asclepius), who bandages Prometheus' chest. While most Greek and Roman traditions claimed Athena/Minerva as an unmarried and childless maiden, these are not universal and these traditions did not seem to apply to Menrva. Nancy Thomson de Grummond stated that "there is good evidence that she was involved in romance... even more surprising is that her consort...