Bident Jupiter (also known as Jove, Etruscan Tinia), the trident or bident thus represents a forked lightning bolt. In ancient Italy, thunder and lightning were read as signs of divine will, wielded by the sky god Jupiter in three forms or degrees of severity (see "manubia"). The Romans drew on Etruscan traditions for the interpretation of these signs. A tile found at Urbs Salvia in Picenum depicts an unusual composite Jove, "fairly bristling with weapons": a lightning bolt, a bident, and a trident, uniting the realms of sky, earth, and sea, and representing the three degrees of ominous lightning (see also
Semele (Handel) Auspicious flashes rise" and chorus: "Lucky omens bless our rites".) However, the bride has been inventing one excuse after the other to put off the wedding and her father and would-be bridegroom urge her to hesitate no longer (Duet: "Daughter, hear! Hear and obey!") To herself, Semele reflects on her dilemma - she does not wish to marry Prince Athamas as she is in love with Jove himself and calls on him to assist her (Accompanied recitative: "Ah me!What refuge now is left me?", arioso: "O Jove! In pity teach me which to choose" and aria: "The morning lark"). Athamas,