Horus

Family: Egyptian gods · Role: god · First appears: The Legend of Ra and Isis

In the Legend of Ra and Isis, Isis tells Horus that Ra must swear to give his two eyes, and Ra yields his name. In the Legend of Horus of Behutet and the Winged Disk, Ra gives Set and the enemies over to Isis and her son. Horus, the son of Isis, cuts off Set’s head and drags him through his territory; with Heru-Behutet, he slaughters the Enemy and his fiends. When Set later enters the earth unseen, Horus takes up his abode over the place with Isis.

In A Hymn to Osiris and a Legend of the Origin of Horus, Isis conceives and gives birth to Horus, suckles him in seclusion, and he grows strong. Osiris sets him upon the great throne of Keb, and the gods grant him divine rank and sovereignty. In the Legend of the Death of Horus through the Sting of a Scorpion, Isis tells how Horus was stung while she was away making a libation for Osiris; she finds him without life and discovers poison in his wound. Thoth comes to heal him, declaring, “Wake up, Horus! Thy protection is established.” Horus lives, and the poison is made powerless.

In Plutarch’s History of Isis and Osiris, Isis comes to Horus at Buto, where he is being reared. Osiris later appears to Horus, encourages him to fight, and instructs him in arms. Horus defeats Typhon and takes him prisoner; after Typhon accuses him of illegitimacy, Hermes assists in establishing his legitimacy by decree of the gods. Plutarch also tells that Horus seized Isis and pulled the royal crown from her head, and that he defeated Typhon in two further battles.