This study explores the symbolism of swimming and the concept of passage in Etruscan funerary art, drawing on Orphic and Pythagorean thought. Both philosophies view death as a transitional phase rather than an end and see water as a medium of purification and a means of achieving a higher state of existence. This belief is reflected in the various funerary symbols representing the transition between the worlds of the living and the dead. These symbols include false doors, boats, music, scenes of swimming, and funerary banquets, which together create a visual language of spiritual renewal and salvation. In Pythagorean philosophy, water symbolizes purification and moral cleansing, while swimming represents the soul's effort to liberate itself from the body. In Orphic belief, diving and crossing water signify a purifying rite that precedes union with the divine. Consequently, swimming in Etruscan funerary art is depicted not as a physical or athletic activity, but as a spiritual metaphor for the soul’s release from material existence and its ascent toward immortality. As funerary imagery evolved, this symbolism shifted from depictions of crossing water by boat to free swimming, marking a visual and philosophical transformation—from a passive journey guided by external forces, like Charon and his boat, to an inner voyage driven by the purified self. Thus, in Etruscan and Roman art, water emerges as a cosmic threshold between life and death, serving as a medium for spiritual transformation and eternal liberation.
)
View on SCiNiTO