From the 'Merriam Webster' dictionary :
»Osiris : the Egyptian God of the underworld,
husband AND brother of Isis...«
How is this possible !???
Confused : Aaron Moses.
2007-12-04 00:50:44 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus !??
Like that !?!?!?
2007-12-04 07:32:56 · update #1
Amun-Ra the principal god of the ennead (the ennead were the nine great Osirian gods) had 2 kids: Shu and Tefnut (a boy and a girl) when they reached adulthood got married and they had a pair of twins: Geb and Nut (boy and girl too) they got married too and they had 4 kids: Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nepthys
Osiris and Isis got married because they loved each other and yes they are siblings (twins) Seth and Nepthys are married too, so this is a custom which the Pharaohs of Egypt followed ever after.
Isis and Osiris had a son named Horus, but Horus was conceived after Osiris's death, Seth killed his own brother (Osiris was the king of Egypt) because he was very jealous of him and he wanted to be the king of Egypt, Isis revived Osiris for one last night of love that's why Horus could be conceived.
His mother Isis raised him hidding and protecting him away from Seth because he wanted to kill Horus too. When Horus reached adulthood he defeated Seth, later Horus got married with the goddess Hathor and they had 4 sons: Hapi, Imsety, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef. BUT since Hathor and Isis are the same goddess we can say Horus got married with his own mother.
And the real name of Osiris is Asar, Ausar or Wesir, the real name of Isis is Aset or Auset, the real name of Seth is Sutekh, the real name of Nepthys is Nebet-Het, the real name of Horus is Heru and the real name of Egypt is Kemet, at least ancient egyptians (Kemetics) called their country: Kemet some people say that Kemet means "Black Land" others say that it means "Mother Land".
Hope it helps you
2007-12-04 20:40:45 · answer #1 · answered by Fatima 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Okay, the best way to explain this is to first understand that back then ( 5000+ years ago,) that just because a woman or man has multiple children did not mean that they were "siblings" if one were illegitimate or a half brother or even a step sibling, they were often not counted as relatives until more recently.
That said, King Osiris was married to Queen Isis and he was murdered by HIS brother, not hers.
This means that, without a genealogy report that was authenticated by twenty people, they may or may not have been related.
Also it is STILL not uncommon for royalty to marry b"in the family". Especially if there are no acceptable husbands or wives outside the family.
As far a the "mythology" of it, in Wicca, the Unnamed Goddess is mother and lover of the Unnamed God. It is and isn't her son. It is and isn't her husband. It is simply a way of reducing the line of Gods. That way all Gods are One and all Goddesses are One.
More confused? or did all that rambling clear it up? Send me a message if I can help more.
2007-12-04 10:03:36 · answer #2 · answered by † Seeker of Truth † 4 · 4⤊ 3⤋
Dear Aaron, it's all been said about mythology where it was obviously a habit between brothers and sisters to marry.
But besides that, why are you confused. If you look at this crazy world - are you really amazed by these marriages? What else did you expect do happen?
LG-P
p.s. aren't these gods already extinct? If the answer is yes - there you have your explanation,lol
2007-12-05 14:39:58 · answer #3 · answered by Pandorra 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Asar in Egyptian also Usir(e), Oser
Osiris (in Greek) was king of the Underworld and originally a god of agriculture and nature. His origin is disputed and he first appeared during dynasty five. In Heliopolis he was said to be son of Re and he represented the dead king. Minor gods were taken into his vast cult and many legends were told about him. The common Myth of Osiris is about his death (murdered by his brother Set) and resurrection. He was the chief judge in the court at the threshold to the next life, where all the dead citizens were trying to come through to Paradise. He always wore a mummy-dress and was brother to Isis, Hor (Horus the elder), Set and Nephthys. His parents were Geb and Nut.
Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld, although he was also worshiped as a fertility, resurrection, and vegetation god. He was married to Isis, a sky goddess. He was father to Horus, the god of sky, and protector of the dead. Osiris was killed by his brother Seth, who shut his body in a chest and threw it into the Nile, where it washed up onto the shore and was trapped in a huge tree. The King Byblos turned it into a pillar in his palace. Isis (who had been searching for her husband) discovered the trunk, and retrieved the trunk and the body. While Isis was away, Seth found the body, and chopped it up into many pieces, and scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis and her sister, Nephthys, found the pieces and made wax models of them to give to priests to be worshiped.
When they found all of his pieces, they were so sad they wailed loudly enough for Re, the father god, to have pity on them. He sent Anubis and Thoth to help. They mummified Osiris, and put his body in a lion headed pier. Isis changed into a kite and fanned breath into Osiris. He was not allowed to stay in the land of the living, and was sent to the underworld to serve as king, and to judge the souls of the dead.
2007-12-05 00:23:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Many Egyptian Pharaohs married their sisters as they believed this would ensure that the royal bloodline would be preserved in this way. Also it mirrors the practice of The Gods worshiped in Egypt.
2007-12-04 09:17:50 · answer #5 · answered by A-chan 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
This is no different than many of the gods of Roman mythology marrying or having relations with siblings or even parents. It appears that incest was used to explain a lot of the gods' family trees.
2007-12-04 08:58:00 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The brother / husband issue is to solve a problem the gods have. To have a legitimate marriage you need two separate family's, or another whole pantheon of separate gods to marry into that don't have the same origin. To solve this problem they simply permit incest.
2007-12-04 11:18:46 · answer #7 · answered by Orestes 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Apparently it happenned quite a bit back then, both in myth and reality--Zeus and Hera were also brother and sister. Lots of real pharoahs and Roman emporers also married VERY close kin--Caligula fathered a child by his sister and if I'm correct, Cleopatra XIV was married to her brother, Ptolemy. Must have made family reunions interesting!
Oh, and also, Lot and his daughters got physical after the destruction of Sodom--but he was drunk at the time.
2007-12-04 09:59:15 · answer #8 · answered by starkneckid 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
In ancient Egypt, it was customary for the royalty to marry their own siblings. They felt that the bloodline needed to be kept pure and the only way to do this was for a pharaoh to marry his sister. Many historical figures in Egypt (as well as other ancient cultures) were married to their own siblings. Cleopatra, for instance, was married to her brother, Ptolemy XIV. Since the gods of a culture are created to mimic those who worship them, it's no mystery that Osiris would be married to his sister, Isis.
Some myths even have mothers and sons married to one another, such as the Greek myth of creation that has Gaea (earth) giving birth to Ouranos (sky) and then mating with him. Incest is a pretty common theme in lots of mythological stories.
2007-12-04 09:04:54 · answer #9 · answered by Avie 7 · 9⤊ 0⤋
It is relatively accepted that incestuous marriages were widespread at least during the Graeco-Roman period of Egyptian history, espeically among the royal families. Pharaoh marrying their sisters and daughters were very common. Both sons and daughters of the Pharaoh married each other in order to keep the royal bloodline within the family.
2007-12-04 21:44:09 · answer #10 · answered by Rachelle_of_Shangri_La 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋