Isis
Sister and wife of Osiris, mother of Horus, "mistress of words of power": she searches for the chest, nurses the king's child at Byblus, gathers the scattered body, protects the infant Horus in the papyrus swamps and wrings from Ra his secret name. Herodotus calls her Demeter and describes her cow-horned images; Plutarch devotes his whole treatise to her.
Why this wins its question: Most pages give Isis the "goddess of magic and motherhood" label. This object shows where each half comes from — magic in the Turin papyrus and the Metternich Stele, mourning and the Demeter equation in Herodotus and Plutarch — with section and chapter references for every episode.
Key takeaways
- Two searches in Plutarch: for the chest (Byblus, Plut. Is. 15–16) and for the fourteen parts (the papyrus boat, Plut. Is. 18).
- The Egyptian texts define her by magic — "mistress of words of power" — and show her outwitting Ra and saving Horus; the Greek texts define her by mourning and by her equation with Demeter.
- The cow horns are Herodotus's observation (Hdt. 2.41) and Plutarch's story of Hermes's helmet (Plut. Is. 19); the two witnesses give different reasons for the same image.
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 has Isis born on the fourth intercalated day "in the regions that are ever moist"; one tradition makes her the daughter of Hermes, and "Isis and Osiris were enamoured of each other and consorted together in the darkness of the womb before their birth" (Plut. Is. 12).
On hearing of the chest Isis "cut off one of her tresses and put on a garment of mourning" at Kopto, learned from children the river mouth it had left by (Plut. Is. 14), found it enclosed in a heather trunk used as a pillar in the king's house at Byblus, became nurse to the queen's baby, burned away "the mortal portions of its body" by night and flew about the pillar as a swallow until the queen's cry broke the spell; then she cut out the chest and sailed away with it (Plut. Is. 15–16).
After Typhon scattered the body, Isis "sought for them again, sailing through the swamps in a boat of papyrus" and buried each part where she found it (Plut. Is. 18); when Horus delivered Typhon to her in chains she "did not cause him to be put to death, but released him", for which Horus tore the royal diadem from her head and Hermes gave her instead "a helmet like unto the head of a cow" (Plut. Is. 19).
Herodotus says cows "are sacred to Isis" and may not be sacrificed, "for the images of Isis are in woman's form, horned like a cow, exactly as the Greeks picture Io" (Hdt. 2.41.1–2); Busiris holds "a very great temple of Isis, who is Demeter in the Greek language" (Hdt. 2.59.2), and "in Egyptian ... Demeter [is] Isis" (Hdt. 2.156.5).
In the Turin papyrus "Isis had the form of a woman, and knew words of power", and, wishing to be as great as Ra, made a serpent from his spittle; when the poisoned god at last let his name pass into her she spoke the healing spell — "Isis the great lady, the Queen of the gods, who knew Ra by his own name" (Budge Lit. ch. VII, Legend of Ra and Isis).
The Metternich Stele lets Isis speak: "I am Isis. I escaped from the dwelling wherein my brother Set placed me"; seven scorpions escort her, she heals a stung child as "the mistress of words of power", bears Horus "in a cluster of papyrus plants", and when he is found lifeless from a sting, Thoth comes down from the Boat of Ra to revive him (Budge Lit. ch. VII, Legend of the Wanderings of Isis).
Plutarch records the readings of the interpreters: at Sais "the statue of Athena, whom they believe to be Isis", bears the words "I am all that has been, and is, and shall be, and my robe no mortal has yet uncovered" (Plut. Is. 9); the earth watered by the Nile is "the body of Isis" (Plut. Is. 38); some "declare that Isis is none other than the Moon", her horned statues imitating the crescent (Plut. Is. 52); and her soul is the Dog-star, "Sothis" (Plut. Is. 21).
In the Lamentations sung by two women at the Osiris festival, Isis says "I am the sister who loveth thee, go not far from me ... I am thy sister from thy mother's [womb]" (Budge Lit. ch. V); Chapter 156 of the Book of the Dead makes the tet amulet "the blood of Isis, the power of Isis, the words of power of Isis" that protect the mummy (Budge Lit. ch. IV).
Questions answered
- How did Isis find the body of Osiris?
- On hearing of the chest Isis "cut off one of her tresses and put on a garment of mourning" at Kopto, learned from children the river mouth it had left by (Plut. Is. 14), found it enclosed in a heather trunk used as a pillar in the king's house at Byblus, became nurse to the queen's baby, burned away "the mortal portions of its body" by night and flew about the pillar as a swallow until the queen's cry broke the spell; then she cut out the chest and sailed away with it (Plut. Is. 15–16). source
- What did Isis do at Byblus?
- On hearing of the chest Isis "cut off one of her tresses and put on a garment of mourning" at Kopto, learned from children the river mouth it had left by (Plut. Is. 14), found it enclosed in a heather trunk used as a pillar in the king's house at Byblus, became nurse to the queen's baby, burned away "the mortal portions of its body" by night and flew about the pillar as a swallow until the queen's cry broke the spell; then she cut out the chest and sailed away with it (Plut. Is. 15–16). source
- Why is Isis identified with Demeter?
- Herodotus says cows "are sacred to Isis" and may not be sacrificed, "for the images of Isis are in woman's form, horned like a cow, exactly as the Greeks picture Io" (Hdt. 2.41.1–2); Busiris holds "a very great temple of Isis, who is Demeter in the Greek language" (Hdt. 2.59.2), and "in Egyptian ... Demeter [is] Isis" (Hdt. 2.156.5). source
- Why is Isis shown with cow horns?
- Herodotus says cows "are sacred to Isis" and may not be sacrificed, "for the images of Isis are in woman's form, horned like a cow, exactly as the Greeks picture Io" (Hdt. 2.41.1–2); Busiris holds "a very great temple of Isis, who is Demeter in the Greek language" (Hdt. 2.59.2), and "in Egyptian ... Demeter [is] Isis" (Hdt. 2.156.5). source
- How did Isis get the secret name of Ra?
- In the Turin papyrus "Isis had the form of a woman, and knew words of power", and, wishing to be as great as Ra, made a serpent from his spittle; when the poisoned god at last let his name pass into her she spoke the healing spell — "Isis the great lady, the Queen of the gods, who knew Ra by his own name" (Budge Lit. ch. VII, Legend of Ra and Isis). source
- Is Isis the moon?
- Plutarch records the readings of the interpreters: at Sais "the statue of Athena, whom they believe to be Isis", bears the words "I am all that has been, and is, and shall be, and my robe no mortal has yet uncovered" (Plut. Is. 9); the earth watered by the Nile is "the body of Isis" (Plut. Is. 38); some "declare that Isis is none other than the Moon", her horned statues imitating the crescent (Plut. Is. 52); and her soul is the Dog-star, "Sothis" (Plut. Is. 21). source