If we are going to talk in anything but generalities about gods, we need to provide a clear focus on both the time and place under discussion. The more precise we can be about both, the more substance our comments can have. While the gods may be absolute, human perceptions of them are not. What follows here is a discussion of evidence for local perceptions of gods from the southeastern region of Italy usually called Apulia. The focus will be on the fourth century BC, particularly the first half of it, which was a creative period of transition for which we have a great deal of evidence.

Let me define the region more precisely, both geographically and culturally (Fig. 16.1). Apulia is the term used for the region of south Italy that stretches from the tip of the heel, up the east coast as far as the Gargano, and inland to the Bradano river. Taranto was the one Greek city in all of Apulia; the rest of that vast area was inhabited by Italic people who had been there for centuries before the arrival of the Greeks. By the eighth century BC three archeologically distinct local cultures can be recognized – the Messapians to the south, the Daunians to the north, and the Peucetians between them. It is likely that Messapian was the language of all three groups – as opposed to Oscan, which was the language of the Samnites to the north and the Lucanians to the west.