Cavalli senza cavalieri. Il tripode di Cap d'Agde e i tripodi etruschi tardo-arcaici con protomi equine

In 1986 an Etruscan rod-tripod was found in the sea off the shore of Cap d’Agde (Dep. Herault), next the so-called “Tour du Castellas”. It belongs to a group of Etruscan bronze tripods which are believed to have been fabricated in the ancient city of Vulci, on the Maremma coast of Lazio. These tripods are usually decorated by small cast figures placed on the top of the rods and on the arched fittings. On the Cap d’Agde tripod, a winged woman and a group made by two addorsed foreparts of horses are visible, both replicated for three times. The presence of the horses’ foreparts relates this tripod to other two and to some fragments of similar tripods that show as well the same cast group. This circumstance raises new questions about the meaning of the horses and their association with tripods. As an interpretation which includes the female figure and the horses is rejected, these last are eventually believed not to be just decorative patterns but rather symbolic elements. Thanks to some comparisons, a traditional association between tripods and horses from the geometric era is demonstrated, thus revealing to be valid throughout both greek and etruscan worlds. the strong relationship between tripods, horses and aristocracy is consequently reaffirmed.