Plutarch · c. AD 46-after 119
On Isis and Osiris
Περὶ Ἴσιδος καὶ ὈσίριδοςPlutarch's treatise On Isis and Osiris (De Iside et Osiride) is addressed to Clea, priestess of Delphi and devotee of Isis. It gives the fullest Greek account of the Egyptian myth: Osiris who brought civilisation to Egypt, the plot of his brother Typhon (Seth), the chest, Isis' search, the dismemberment of Osiris and the vengeance of Horus. Plutarch then weighs the explanations of the myth (as history, as daemonology, as nature allegory, as astronomy and as a struggle of good and evil) and ends with Egyptian animal cults, symbols, vestments and the incense kyphi. It is the main ancient source for the Greek identification of Osiris with Dionysus and Isis with Demeter.
Contents · 18 passages
- 1–7Prologue to Clea; the name of Isis; why the priests shave and wear linen1805 words
- 8–11Why the rites are not folly: the onion, the swine, kings and priests, and Egyptian symbols1320 words
- 12–14The myth begins: the birth of the gods, Osiris the lawgiver and Typhon's plot1137 words
- 15–19Isis seeks Osiris: Byblos, the dismemberment, Horus' revenge1528 words
- 20–24Reading the myth: the histories of kings and the case against taking it literally1438 words
- 25–31Daemons: the great spirits behind the tale, and the lot of Typhon2254 words
- 32–34Nature allegories: the Nile as Osiris, the sea as Typhon988 words
- 35–40Osiris and Dionysus; the Nile, Sirius and the drought as Typhon2241 words
- 41–45The sun and moon: the seventeenth day, the Nile's rise, eclipses and Plutarch's synthesis1605 words
- 46–49Two principles: Zoroaster and the Magi, the Chaldaeans and the Greeks1387 words
- 50–55Typhon's animals; Osiris' eye and sceptre; Isis, Osiris and Horus1727 words
- 56–60The Platonic reading: intelligible, matter and the cosmos; Hesiod's first things1488 words
- 61–64The names Osiris and Isis; the sistrum; a summary of the interpretation1135 words
- 65–68The gods are not the Egyptians' alone; the use of philosophy in religion1150 words
- 69–71Mournful festivals and fasts; the lament for the fruits973 words
- 72–75Sacred animals: the gods in animal form, benefit, symbol and the crocodile1703 words
- 76–78Symbols and vestments; Osiris as lord of the dead790 words
- 79–80The daily incense and the making of kyphi933 words
More by Plutarch
English translation by William Baxter (1874). Original text: William W. Goodwin (ed.), Plutarch's Morals, translated from the Greek by several hands, vol. 4, Boston: Little, Brown and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874 (Greek text: Gregorius N. Bernardakis, Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, vol. 2, Leipzig: Teubner, 1889, as digitised by Perseus).
Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.
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