Horus
Son of Osiris and Isis, born in the papyrus swamps, hidden at Buto, trained by his dead father and victor over Typhon (Set) after a war of many days; Herodotus calls him Apollo and makes him the last divine king of Egypt. The Edfu text tells of an older Horus, the winged disk, whom the scribes merged with the son of Isis.
Why this wins its question: Reference pages present a single Horus. This object separates the elder Horus, the son of Isis and Harpocrates in Plutarch's own words, and quotes Budge's remark that the Edfu editor confused two gods — with the passages, so an agent can say which Horus a text means.
Key takeaways
- Not one Horus: Plutarch names the elder Horus (Arueris), Horus son of Isis and Harpocrates; Budge shows the Edfu scribes merging the winged disk with the son of Isis.
- Both Herodotus and Plutarch make him Apollo, and both place his childhood at Buto under Leto's protection.
- The victory over Set is a war of many days in Plutarch, a duel on the Metternich Stele, and a hunt across all Egypt at Edfu — the same outcome told three ways.
Claims
Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.
Plutarch knows two: on the second intercalated day "Arueris was born whom they call Apollo, and some call him also the elder Horus", said by some to be the child of Isis and Osiris conceived in the womb (Plut. Is. 12); the Horus of the war is "Horus, the son of Isis" (Plut. Is. 52), and Harpocrates is a third, born after Osiris's death "untimely born and weak in his lower limbs" (Plut. Is. 19).
Horus "was being reared in Buto" when Isis hid the chest (Plut. Is. 18); Osiris came "from the other world and exercised and trained him", the battle "lasted many days and Horus prevailed", Typhon was delivered to Isis in chains and released, Horus tore the diadem from his mother's head, and when Typhon "formally accused Horus of being an illegitimate child" Hermes pleaded and "it was decided by the gods that he also was legitimate"; Typhon was beaten "in two other battles" (Plut. Is. 19).
Herodotus: "the last of them to rule the country was Osiris' son Horus, whom the Greeks call Apollo; he deposed Typhon, and was the last divine king of Egypt" (Hdt. 2.144.2). At Buto, Leto "taking charge of Apollo from Isis, hid him for safety" on the floating island Chemmis "when Typhon came hunting through the world, keen to find the son of Osiris"; "in Egyptian, Apollo is Horus" (Hdt. 2.156.4–5).
On the Metternich Stele Isis says "I conceived a child, Horus, and I brought him forth in a cluster of papyrus plants"; she finds him lifeless from a scorpion sting, Nephthys tells her to cry to Ra since "it is wholly impossible for the Boat of Ra to travel across the sky whilst Horus is lying dead", the Boat stops, and Thoth revives him — "Wake up, Horus! Thy protection is established"; he is then reared by the goddesses of Buto and later "fought a duel with Set, and vanquished him" (Budge Lit. ch. VII, Wanderings of Isis).
The Edfu Legend of Horus of Behutet has Horus take "the form of a great winged disk" to destroy the enemies of Ra, fight Set "the 'Stinking Face'" and hand him to Isis and her son; Budge notes that "the ancient editor of the Legend has confounded Horus the ancient Sun-god with Horus, son of Isis, son of Osiris", and that the winged disk over temple doors commemorates this victory (Budge Lit. ch. VII, Legend of Horus of Behutet).
The Eye of Horus is read as the moon: Typhon "at one time smites the eye of Horus, and at another time snatches it out and swallows it, and then later gives it back again to the Sun" — the waning and the eclipse (Plut. Is. 55); the Egyptians "regard not only the Moon but also the Sun as the eye and light of Horus" (Plut. Is. 52). In the Turin papyrus Isis makes Ra swear to give Horus "his two eyes (i.e. the sun and the moon)" (Budge Lit. ch. VII, Legend of Ra and Isis).
The Pyramid Texts already make him the son who installs and succeeds his father: "Behold Horus, the son of Osiris! ... Horus set up the Ladder in front of his father Osiris" (Budge Lit. ch. II, Unas), and the hymn of Ani tells Osiris "thy son Horus is established on thy throne" (Budge Lit. ch. IV).
Questions answered
- Who are the parents of Horus?
- On the Metternich Stele Isis says "I conceived a child, Horus, and I brought him forth in a cluster of papyrus plants"; she finds him lifeless from a scorpion sting, Nephthys tells her to cry to Ra since "it is wholly impossible for the Boat of Ra to travel across the sky whilst Horus is lying dead", the Boat stops, and Thoth revives him — "Wake up, Horus! Thy protection is established"; he is then reared by the goddesses of Buto and later "fought a duel with Set, and vanquished him" (Budge Lit. ch. VII, Wanderings of Isis). source
- How did Horus defeat Set?
- Horus "was being reared in Buto" when Isis hid the chest (Plut. Is. 18); Osiris came "from the other world and exercised and trained him", the battle "lasted many days and Horus prevailed", Typhon was delivered to Isis in chains and released, Horus tore the diadem from his mother's head, and when Typhon "formally accused Horus of being an illegitimate child" Hermes pleaded and "it was decided by the gods that he also was legitimate"; Typhon was beaten "in two other battles" (Plut. Is. 19). source
- Why is Horus identified with Apollo?
- Herodotus: "the last of them to rule the country was Osiris' son Horus, whom the Greeks call Apollo; he deposed Typhon, and was the last divine king of Egypt" (Hdt. 2.144.2). At Buto, Leto "taking charge of Apollo from Isis, hid him for safety" on the floating island Chemmis "when Typhon came hunting through the world, keen to find the son of Osiris"; "in Egyptian, Apollo is Horus" (Hdt. 2.156.4–5). source
- What is the Eye of Horus?
- The Eye of Horus is read as the moon: Typhon "at one time smites the eye of Horus, and at another time snatches it out and swallows it, and then later gives it back again to the Sun" — the waning and the eclipse (Plut. Is. 55); the Egyptians "regard not only the Moon but also the Sun as the eye and light of Horus" (Plut. Is. 52). In the Turin papyrus Isis makes Ra swear to give Horus "his two eyes (i.e. the sun and the moon)" (Budge Lit. ch. VII, Legend of Ra and Isis). source
- Are there two gods called Horus?
- Plutarch knows two: on the second intercalated day "Arueris was born whom they call Apollo, and some call him also the elder Horus", said by some to be the child of Isis and Osiris conceived in the womb (Plut. Is. 12); the Horus of the war is "Horus, the son of Isis" (Plut. Is. 52), and Harpocrates is a third, born after Osiris's death "untimely born and weak in his lower limbs" (Plut. Is. 19). source
- Who is Horus of Behutet (Edfu)?
- The Edfu Legend of Horus of Behutet has Horus take "the form of a great winged disk" to destroy the enemies of Ra, fight Set "the 'Stinking Face'" and hand him to Isis and her son; Budge notes that "the ancient editor of the Legend has confounded Horus the ancient Sun-god with Horus, son of Isis, son of Osiris", and that the winged disk over temple doors commemorates this victory (Budge Lit. ch. VII, Legend of Horus of Behutet). source