Vegoia

Vegoia (Etruscan: Vecu) is a sibyl, prophet, or nymph within the Etruscan religious framework. She is identified as the author of parts of their large and complex set of sacred books, detailing the religiously correct methods of founding cities and shrines, draining fields, formulating laws and ordinances, measuring space and dividing time; she initiated the Etruscan people to the arts, as originating the rules and rituals of land marking, and as presiding over the observance, respect, and preservation of boundaries.

Vegoia also is known as Vecu, Vecui, and Vecuvia, as well as Vegoe; her name is also given as Begoe or Bigois.

In the Etruscan religious framework

The Etruscan religious system remains mostly obscure. There being few bilingual documents comparable to the Rosetta Stone that could facilitate translation, the Etruscan language is poorly understood.

Therefore, the existing ancient Etruscan documents of the eighth, seventh, and sixth centuries BCE that would reveal their religious concepts, do not yield much. Moreover, during the later period of the fifth through the first centuries BCE, Etruscan civilization heavily absorbed elements of Greek civilization and eventually, it was diluted in the Greco-Roman cultural mix with their powerful Roman neighbors. Lastly, while the Etruscans formalized their religious concepts and practices in a series of "sacred books", most no longer exist and they are known only through commentaries or quotes by Roman authors of the late first century, and hence, may be biased.

Two mythological figures have been set by the Etruscans as presiding over the writing of their sacred books: Vegoia, the subject of this article, and Tages, a monstrous childlike figure gifted with the knowledge and prescience of an ancient sage. Those books are known from Latin authors under a classification pertaining to their content according to their mythological author (whether delivered through speeches or lectures, such as Tages, or inspiration).