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Ancient authors wrote about the Etruscans as the nation which excelled in the field of religion. According to modern scholars, the Etruscan faith was a combination of local beliefs and foreign influences. So, some of the Etruscans gods were “native” while some others were “imported” from Latins and Greeks. There are some problems with this view. For example, in the sixth century BC, the Latins are just a small nation living in the sphere of the Etruscan influence while Greeks were still in the making. If Etruscans were the experts of religion why would they be thought religion by cultures not superior to their own? Part of the answer could be in the fact that ancient polytheistic "religions" were flexible and had no problem accepting "foreign gods". The other part is obscured by the fog of prehistory and the Christian narrative by which Greece and Rome were foundations of European civilization while everybody else was inferior. This is etymological research of the names of Etruscan, Greek and Roman gods. Its findings are suggesting very different dynamics. For example, "the Etruscans" knew the stories of "The Iliad" and "Odyssey" before they even met "the Greeks"! And the names of their gods can be unlocked with keys found in Sanskrit!

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