Legends of Isis

According to the Encyclopedia Mythica, during the Hellenistic period, the Goddess Isis was revered as a protectoress of sailors. One of the most popular legends surrounding Isis pertains to her husband Osiris and his brother Seth.

Osiris was the god of the underworld who was wedded to the goddess Isis--a sky goddess. Thus, with a joining of the sky goddess and the god of the underworld, a balance of forces was established.

Osiris' brother was Seth, the god of chaos. Interestingly, one can immediately see a parallel with the mythology of the Greeks when viewing the hierarchy of the Egyptian gods. According to the works of Hesiod and Appolydorus, the hierarchy of the divine was initially established out of chaos. Ge or Gaia, and Ouranos were the first deities to be formed form chaos in Greek Myth. An interesting difference can be identified between Egyptian mythology and Greek mythology: the roles of the divine are reversed. Isis, an Egyptian feminine deity is ruler of the sky and Osiris rules the underworld in Egyptian myth. Whereas, in Greek myth, Ge or Gaia (meaning earth) ruled the earth and Ouranos ruled the heavens. Later Pontos would emerge as ruler of the sea in Greek Myth, but that's another story entirely.

It is also interesting to note the role reversal of the deities from one culture to another. In fact, the role reversal between the two cultures may reflect the vast differences between the Egyptian and Greek cultures and the role of the woman in society. In Greek cultures, women had few rights and when wedded and were the property of their husbands, whereas in Egyptian culture the woman's' role was a bit more liberated.

But, I digress....

Seth was associated with evil. Embracing all concepts of evil, Seth was the god of war, of desert storms and foreign lands (this association probably had much to do with the Egyptian's fear of invasion and suppression by foreign lands). Seth battled his brother Osiris and killed him. Later, he dismembered his brother and scattered his body parts throughout Egypt.

When Isis' beloved husband was killed she grieved terribly. She search the land of Egypt for all of the parts of Osiris and put him back together again. Due to the fact that Isis reconnected Osiris after death, Isis became a goddess that was the protectress of the deceased. After Isis reconnected Osiris, she impregnated herself and gave birth to their son, Horus. In fact, one can find many depictions of Isis nursing Horus while she sits on her throne.

Additionally, Isis is also frequently depicted with a solar disc resting between a set of cow horns on her head. Occasionally, a vulture would also be depicted on her crown. However, an image less well known is that Isis is sometimes depicted as a kite over the mumified body of Osiris. Finally, some scholars contend that the name Isis means "throne", while others, like Plutarch for instance, contend that her name means "knowledge."

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