Isis and Horus

360 Words2 Pages
The myth of Isis, Osiris, and Horus can be interpreted in many different ways. For centuries, people have been hypothesizing about the true meaning of an ancient story, rather than accepting it's literal meaning. One such person is C.G. Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist. He believes, as opposed to others in his field, that heroism can occur in both halves of life. He also writes about "archetypes," or roles a character plays in a story. In the myth of Isis, Osiris, and Horus, Thoth wins five extra days at the end of the year for Nut to bear children. Nut was sleeping around on Re, and he banished her from bearing children throughout the year. These five days that were won by a "hero" allowed her to give birth to Osiris and Set. Nut, in the Jungian archetype, was someone who was quite impulsive, and a person who did whatever "felt good." She slept with other people besides Re, leading us to believe this. Osiris becomes the "lord of the earth." He teaches the humans how to fend for themselves, farm, law, and religion. He is essentially the good-guy, hero. He is the fearless leader who would never steer anyone wrong. He is a hero in both parts of his life. After he is tricked into a coffin made by Set to suffocate him, he is brought back to life. He has a kid with Isis (Horus) and then goes up to the heavens to become "king of the other world." He is forced to break free of his childhood world, as Jung would put it, to go on to bigger, better things. Horus then follows his father and becomes king of Egypt, replacing Osiris. This is another "forget the past, here's the future" type move. He also gets his mother's magical powers, kind of a "passing of the torch." There are many other ways to look at this myth. Psychology only provide explanations of part of the story, as do other ways. It's very

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