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Etruscan Places |
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written
by shivali / 10.24.2005 |
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Part 1: |
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Writers often use their craft to confront issues deep within their personal life. Likewise, D.H Lawrence uses the painted Etruscan tombs of Tarquinia to cope with his own mortality or even what he perhaps views as his immortality. As a dying man, his visit is ironic, yet powerful. He seeks his answers in the tombs of a society of people whom he deeply admires. In exploring the tombs and their beliefs, he explores his possible fate as a dying man. Throughout the piece, Lawrence uses the theme of endurance to describe the Etruscans and their mark on the human history. Time- thousands of years- has passed by the lives of the men who called themselves the Etruscans, but we still have remnants of their lives via the painted tombs. From the tombs, the viewer can piece together their pastimes, concepts of beauty, relationship with nature, and ideas about the afterlife. Like the Etruscans, Lawrence, too, must examine his beliefs about the afterlife. Lawrence sees the endurance of the Etruscan tombs as a sign of their immortality. Though the Romans pillaged their villages, the Etruscans and their memory live on quite vividly within each viewer. So, as the dying Lawrence describes the tombs and the sarcophagi, he emphasizes the immortality of the Etruscans. Mentally, he probably bridges a parallel between the endurance of the Etruscan memory and his own for Lawrence is an accomplished novelist. His books will work to preserve his memory and in doing so, will grant him a fragment of immortality.
Furthermore, Lawrence uses the imagery and symbolism of patera to consider his own death. The Etruscan patera which he says, “stands for the plan, also, of the living cell, with its nucleus, which is the indivisible God of the beginning…” The word “indivisible” stresses that the life or soul of the cell cannot be broken by a worldly death and acknowledges that some part of the person persists after life. Next, he says that the living cell, “remains alive and unbroken to the end…” Again, Lawrence’s emphasis is placed on the parts of the person that continue after life. When facing and coping with his own mortality, he probably takes comfort in believing that his life or a part of him will persevere. Lawrence passionately describes the “quick” or the soul, which he says is “some spark, some unborn and undying vivid life-electron.” It is a vividness he sees in the tombs, but not characteristic of the Etruscans; the “spark” he uses can describe any live form. So by interpreting the patera as such, Lawrence bridges the gap between the death in the tombs and his own death.
In doing so, Lawrence appeases even the reader’s own fears about death and the afterlife. There is a comfort in the ideology of the Etruscans; regardless of one’s station in life, their soul or “quick” preserves even after a mortal death.
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Part 2: |
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Lawrence describes the Etruscan tombs so vividly that the reader also feels they are viewing the tombs. I appreciated his description of the Tomb of the Feast. He describes “dancing figures that go round the room… [and] the women in thin spotted dresses of linen muslin…” Each detail is elaborated; the exact colors and shapes are vivid. My own expectations were glittered with Lawrence’s lively words about feasts, fishing, and hunting. I can almost see the dog, the children, and the expressions on the people’s faces. He frankly states, “how lovely these have been, and still are!” So precise is the description that I had a set of great expectations of upon viewing the tombs. However, there is a sense of eeriness that persists with me even after my visit to the tombs. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was invading some very private ground that I had no right to explore. A burial ground and its accompanying tomb seem scared; intrusion, although educational, is a bit difficult for me to endure. Therefore, I visited only a few of the tombs to see as much as was necessary to learn about the Etruscans. Though not to the same extent, Lawrence agrees with my belief in respecting the sacredness of the tombs. As much as I would like to say an image of one of the tombs will persist within my memory of the Tarquinian city, I think it is the juxtaposition between the countryside landscape and the tombs which will stay with me. I will remember the dry, brittle Italian hillside with covered in tiny, brown shacks. The blazing hot sun that brighted with land with bright shades of yellow. As I entered the tomb, the eeriness set in almost immediately. From the bright sunlight, I stepped into complete darkness. I could no longer make out the walls or shapes and it was only till an unexpected slip that I noticed the staircase. But I continue, in anticipation of the treasure that Lawrence had so vividly described. The descent is mysteriously cool- almost cold- unlike the outside terrain. The tombs themselves permeate death. The color used to decorate has faded and the figures are difficult to make out. However, beneath the wear, I uncovered remnants of fullness of human life. The images that decorate the walls are elaborate; there are the careful outlines of fishing, hunting, feasting, beautiful women with makeup, and fit men. However, there is a bareness that dominates my memory of the tombs. Perhaps with each visitor, something sacred or special disappears from the sanctified territory.
When I think about my own death or my own expectations about death, I hope for a certain amount of respect. Respect of my own individual contribution, however small and more importantly, respect for the beliefs that will describe my journey after death. Therefore, I believe in the sacredness of such peaceful sights and the variety of beliefs surrounding death, however cliché. I am mortified by the thought of someone, years from now, making my tomb a tourist destination. A prevailing theme in death is the hope of finding peace. I cannot help but think that by allowing visitors into the tombs, we are somehow interrupting upon the Etruscan rest and calm.
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