Isis

Isis is generally accepted as a “Great Mother” figure; however, several of the myths concerning Isis exhibit very strong trickster themes. Isis used her cunning and ability to alter her appearance in an effort to place her son on the Egyptian throne. Isis’ husband, Osiris, the rightful ruler of Egypt, was murdered by his brother Seth, who quickly took his place as king. Isis later gave birth to Osiris’ son, Horus, and when he came of age, he began challenging Seth’s right to the throne. When the Egyptian gods held a tribunal debating who should rule Egypt, Isis was able to gain sympathy for her son. Angered by Isis’ participation, Seth swore, “to kill one god a day with his 4500lb scepter” (Hart 35). The tribunal was moved to an island, and Re, the sun god, forbid the ferryman to row Isis across to the island. Since Re did not forbid Isis from coming to the tribunal, she was given the opportunity to work around Re’s proclamation without defying him. Isis transformed herself into an old crone and convinced the ferryman to carry her across. Once on the island, Isis changed her form again, this time into a beautiful young woman, and began to entice Seth. Isis trapped Seth into admitting his guilt by pretending “to be a herdsman’s widow whose son [was] being threatened by a stranger with the confiscation of his father’s cattle and eviction from his home” (Hart 35). She asked for Seth’s help and he obliged, for he felt her son was being dealt a huge injustice. When the tribunal learned of Seth’s attitude, they awarded Horus the kingdom of Egypt.

Seth convinced the tribunal to overthrow their ruling and let him and Horus settle the argument through a series of contests. After several contests, Re ordered the two to stop fighting and call a truce. During this truce, Seth attempted to humiliate Horus before the other gods. Seth invited Horus to a feast and later that night tried to rape him. “Unbeknown to Seth, [Horus] deflected the attack with his hands between his thighs and catches the semen of Seth” (Hart 36). After learning of the attack, Isis cut off her son’s hands and threw them into the marsh because they were polluted with Seth’s semen. Isis fashioned Horus a new set of hands and then set out to avenge her son. Isis sought revenge by spreading Horus’ semen on Seth’s favorite food, lettuce. Before an assembly of the gods, Seth proclaimed that he has “homosexually dominated Horus” (Hart 37). Horus accused Seth of lying and Thoth, the god of wisdom is summoned to discover the truth. Thoth summoned each god’s semen to appear. Seth’s semen appeared from the marsh, where Horus’ old hands had been discarded. Horus’ semen “emerged as a gold sun disk” from the mouth of Seth (Hart 37). Thus through Isis’ cunning trick, Seth is humiliated and her son, Horus is vindicated.

Thoth

According to Plutarch’s Concerning Isis and Osiris, the Greek trickster Hermes and the Egyptian god of wisdom, Thoth are the same being. Thoth exhibits very few trickster characteristics. Primarily, Thoth is a boundary crosser. He is the mediator between gods and mortals and the messenger for Re, the sun god. Re appointed Thoth to the position of regent “to keep control of the human race”, when he became “weary of mankind” (Hart 49). Upon Re’s instructions, Thoth taught mortals hieroglyphs, “in which all scientific wisdom, medicine and mathematics are embodied” (Hart 49). Although Thoth is not a devious figure like Hermes, he does posses the same liminality associated with Hermes.

In Plutarch’s version of Thoth, there is one story in which Thoth behaves more like the typical trickster. According to Plutarch, Helios tried to prevent Rhea from giving birth during the year. Thoth “managed to add five days to the year by beating the moon in a game of draughts” (Hart 40). This trick allowed Rhea to give birth to the five primary Egyptian deities.

Although Thoth is not a devious figure like Hermes, he does posses the same liminality associated with Hermes.

Hathor

Hathor is a goddess of love and joy and there is only one myth concerning her as a trickster figure. However, this myth is a popular motif in many of the world’s mythologies. During a tribunal among the Egyptian gods, the god Baba becomes angry with Re and told him “Your shrine is empty”, implying that no mortal cares for him anymore. Re is hurt by the remark and leaves the tribunal to go “to his pavilion and sulk” (Hart 34). Re does not return from his pavilion until his daughter, Hathor appears and, “stands in front of him and pulls up her dress to reveal her nakedness” (Hart 35). This display causes Re to forget his hurt feelings and return to the tribunal. Hathor crosses the sacred/lewd boundary by revealing herself to her father.