When gods become human

A god becomes human, lives among them, suffers death and through love is resurrected. Does this story sound familiar? It should. It is the myth of Osiris.

You might know Osiris as the ruler of the blessed dead, but there is more to his legend. There are Greek and Egyptian sources documenting the myth of Osiris. Two Greek historians, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch, wrote about Osiris in the first and second century BC.

Although the oral tradition of the stories were many centuries old, written Egyptian accounts were discovered much later. These scattered references were found in scrolls within pyramids, inscriptions on tombs, and in ancient spells. What is interesting about the Egyptian sources is the fact that the myth evolved and changed over the years. That makes sense – a belief transmitted orally over thousands of years would not have the same details – but the essence of the story remains the same and the myth of Osiris is about love, loyalty and sacrifice.

According to the legend, Geb, a primordial god of earth, married Nut, goddess of the sky. They had four children: Osiris, Seth, Isis and Nephtys. Geb abdicated his crown to Osiris and gave him the Earth to live among humans and teach them.

Osiris became known as a great and benevolent king. He married his sister goddess Isis (don’t you hate the modern acronym that sullied her beautiful name?). Isis discovered wheat and barley and Osiris taught Egyptians how to cultivate the land. Osiris’s early reign was prosperous, with few conflicts. In fact, Osiris took a talented army of experts and travelled the world, conquering and then teaching people of foreign lands how to build society. His army taught the people agriculture, music and art. He returned to Egypt with exotic jewels, gifts or tributes paid to him.

Meanwhile, Seth married their other sister, Nephtys. But in the Greek version of the story, Osiris mistook Nephtys for his own wife, Isis, and accidently slept with her. That made his brother Seth seek vengeance. That version has the dramatic Greek penchant for a tragic retribution story written all over it. However, in the Egyptian account, Seth grew jealous of his brother who had everything and plotted against him. Also, in the Egyptian version Seth is depicted as ugly man with cleft lip.

Seth gathered 72 conspirators to help him kill his brother. At first, under the pretense of making his brother a vest, he had Osiris’ measures taken. Seth gave his brother a vest adorned with precious stones and threw a celebration in his honor. Isis had a bad feeling and warned her husband not to go (women always know). Osiris ignored his wife’s warnings and went to the party.

Seth had a beautiful gem-encrusted gold chest, or coffin, secretly made to the measures of Osiris. At the celebration, he announced that anyone who can fit in the coffin shall have it as a gift. Guests took turns lying in the chest, but it did not fit anyone. Seth encouraged his brother to try. Of course, the chest was the perfect fit. As soon as Osiris lay in it, Seth and his conspirators nailed it shut and poured molten lead to seal it. The coffin was pushed in the river and it drifted away. Seth went to inform Isis that he would take over the throne. Isis recited her spells and transformed into a bird, escaping through the window right in front of his eyes.

The search for her beloved husband began. Isis met a woman who said that her husband had a vision in which he saw his coffin floating on a certain tributary of the Nile. With this intelligence, Isis found the coffin, but Seth had already found Osiris and cut his body into many parts (according to the Greeks, it was 26 pieces and the Egyptians claim 42 pieces. More than likely the text just mentioned the pieces were spread all over Egypt).

Isis was able to gather all the body parts (except for the penis, for reasons unknown) and used her magic to resurrect Osiris. His spirit overcame physical limitation and impregnated her. The moment of conception was marked by a flash of light. The goddess Isis proclaimed, “I am Isis, and my son is a god, the seed of Osiris.” That proclamation made the other gods protect her and her unborn child, Horus.

It is said that Isis created a replica of Osiris’ body parts from spices and wax and send them to different parts of Egypt. She instructed them to bury the body parts and perform funeral cult offerings. This was her way to hide the true location of his body’s actual burial. According to Egyptian legend, the Nile overflowed from the tears of Isis’ grief over her lost husband. Isis vowed not to remarry and when she died, she was entombed near Memphis.

Osiris’ resurrection was celebrated every year in the spring. According to Greek sources, Osiris was the inventor of wine, so in the memory of Osiris’s death and resurrection, please raise a glass for him.