Isis and Osiris (De Iside et Osiride)
Isis and Osiris (De Iside et Osiride)
Egyptian
Isis and Osiris (De Iside et Osiride)
Name in Non-English, or Alternative Name/s
Isis and Osiris; On Isis and Osiris; De Iside et Osiride; Plutarch's Isis and Osiris
Mythopouch artistic interpretations
English Edition Translation used on this Page
Frank Cole Babbitt · 1936 · Harvard University Press / William Heinemann Ltd.
Time Period
Roman Imperial period, late 1st to early 2nd century CE. Public-domain English reading witness: Frank Cole Babbitt, 1936.
Introduction - Overview
Plutarch's Isis and Osiris, traditionally titled De Iside et Osiride, is an ancient Greek account of Egyptian religion, myth and ritual. It preserves one of the best-known continuous versions of the story of Isis, Osiris, Typhon and Horus, while also discussing priestly customs, symbolism, philosophy and competing interpretations of Egyptian beliefs.
The work is not an Egyptian primary text. Plutarch writes from a Greek intellectual and religious setting and often uses Greek equivalents such as Typhon for Set and Hermes for Thoth. Frank Cole Babbitt's introduction to the 1936 Loeb edition notes that Plutarch preserves much useful information but also gets some Egyptian material wrong.
Mythopouch uses Frank Cole Babbitt's 1936 English translation in Plutarch's Moralia, Volume V, as the historical source witness.
The Work...
Isis and Osiris (De Iside et Osiride)
The core myth begins with five intercalary days added to the Egyptian year. Plutarch says Osiris was born on the first, Arueris on the second, Typhon on the third, Isis on the fourth and Nephthys on the fifth.
Osiris becomes king and brings the Egyptians out of a brutish way of life by teaching cultivation, laws and reverence for the gods. He then travels abroad, winning peoples through persuasion and music rather than warfare. While he is away, Isis remains in control.
After Osiris returns, Typhon conspires with seventy-two accomplices and an Ethiopian queen named Aso. A chest is made to fit Osiris exactly. When Osiris lies inside it, the conspirators fasten the lid with nails and molten lead and send the chest out to sea through the Tanitic Mouth.
Isis mourns and searches for the chest. It reaches Byblos, where a plant grows around it and becomes a great trunk used as a palace pillar. Isis eventually recovers the chest. Later, while she is away visiting Horus at Buto, Typhon discovers the hidden body of Osiris, cuts it into fourteen pieces and scatters them.
Plutarch gives more than one explanation for the many tombs of Osiris. In one tradition Isis buries each recovered part where she finds it; in another she distributes effigies of Osiris among different cities. The one part she does not recover is the phallus, which is eaten by fish, so she fashions and consecrates a replica.
Osiris later comes from the other world to train Horus for battle. Horus defeats Typhon, but Isis releases the captive Typhon. Horus reacts violently and tears the royal diadem from Isis's head, after which Hermes gives her a cow-shaped headdress. Typhon then challenges Horus's legitimacy, but the gods judge Horus legitimate, and Typhon is defeated again.
Plutarch repeatedly warns against reading these stories as simple literal history. His work connects the myth with ritual, mourning, natural symbolism and philosophical interpretation. He also associates the soul of Isis with the Dog-star, called Sothis by the Egyptians.
Summary
Plutarch's Isis and Osiris preserves a Greek account of the Egyptian Osiris cycle, including the five divine births, Typhon's plot, Isis's search, the fourteen pieces and Horus's struggle. Mythopouch uses Frank Cole Babbitt's 1936 translation as its English source witness.
Source Note
Plutarch's ancient Greek work is public domain. Frank Cole Babbitt's 1936 English translation is also public domain and is used as the historical source witness. The Mythopouch retelling is original educational wording. Mythopouch commentary and original imagery are © Mythopouch.
Sources & Retellings Cultural Context Notice
Mythology developed across different cultures, periods and traditions, and there is rarely one universally accepted version of a story. Mythopouch approaches these traditions with respect while remaining faithful to the complexity of the surviving material. Retellings and educational content may interpret or adapt historical sources, but are not presented as definitive accounts of any culture, religion or belief system.