s, in consonance with the predatory nature of that
animal, developed into a god of war. In other cases the transitional
steps are shrouded in mystery; we do not know, for example, why the ibis
Thoth subsequently became the patron of the fine arts, the inventor of
writing, and the scribe of the gods. But the main factor in this
evolutionary process was undoubtedly the formation of myths, which
brought gods of independent origin into relation with one another, and
thus imbued them with human passions and virtues. Here dim historic
recollections often determined the features of the story, and in one
famous legend that knits together a group of gods all seemingly local in
origin we can still faintly trace how the tale arose, was added to, and
finally crystallized in a coherent form.

Osiris was a wise and beneficent king, who reclaimed the Egyptians from
savagery, gave them laws and taught them handicrafts. The prosperous
reign of Osiris was brought to a premature close by the machinations of
his wicked brother Seth, who with seventy-two fellow-conspirators
invited him to a banquet, induced him to enter a cunningly-wrought
coffin made exactly to his measure, then shut down the lid and cast the
chest into the Nile. Isis, the faithful wife of Osiris, set forth in
search of her dead husband's body, and after long and adventure-fraught
wanderings, succeeded in recovering it and bringing it back to Egypt.
Then while she was absent visiting her son Horus in the city of Buto,
Seth once more gained possession of the corpse, cut it into fourteen
pieces, and scattered them all over Egypt. But Isis collected the
fragments, and wherever one was found, buried it with due honour; or,
according to a different account, she joined the limbs together by
virtue of her magical powers, and the slain Osiris, thus resurrected,
henceforth reigned as king of the dead in the nether world. When Horus
grew up he set out to avenge his father's murder, and after terrible
struggles finally conquered and dispossessed his wicked uncle; or, as
another version relates, the combatants were separated by Thoth, and
Egypt divided between them, the northern part falling to Horus and the
southern to Seth. Such is the story as told by Plutarch, with certain
additions and modifications from older native sources. There existed,
however, a very ancient tradition according to which Horus and Seth were
hostile brothers, not nephew and uncle; and many considerations may b