Pluto (mythology) abundance or riches, Pluto expresses the aspect of the underworld god that was positive, symbolized in art by the "horn of plenty" (cornucopia), by means of which "Plouton" is distinguished from the gloomier Hades. The Roman poet Ennius ("ca." 239–169 BC), the leading figure in the Hellenization of Latin literature, considered Pluto a Greek god to be explained in terms of the Roman equivalents Dis Pater and Orcus. It is unclear whether Pluto had a literary presence in Rome before Ennius. Some scholars think that rituals and beliefs pertaining to Pluto entered Roman culture with the establishment of the Saecular
Tomb of Orcus belonged to the Murina family, an offshoot of the Etruscan Spurinnae. The foundation is inscribed with the following enigmatic phrase: Orcus I was built between 470 and 450 BC (perhaps by a man named Leive; see below); a separate hypogeum, Orcus II, was built c. 325 BC. At some point in antiquity the wall between the two was removed, creating a large tomb with two dromes (entrances). The tomb was excavated in 1868 by an officer of the French Army. Upon its discovery, the excavator mistook the painting of a cyclops for the Roman god Orcus (see below), hence the