Cultural Pieces

Osiris has been an influential figure for thousands of years. Here's just a few examples!

Passion plays were quite common throughout Egypt around 2000 BC. One of the more famous of the Passion plays was that of Osiris's life. The plays depicted his reign as king of Egypt, his brutal murder at the hands of his brother and his resurrection by his wife. Often times the plays were recorded in stone.




In 1984 the group Iron Maiden produced a song called 'Powerslave' that references not only Osiris but other Egyptian Gods. Here's a link to the song (with lyrics) on Youtube. Powerslave by Iron Maiden
 



Another song that mentions Osiris is 'The Origin of Love' from the movie Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Here's a link to that song as well. The Origin of Love




The popular television show called 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' makes many references to the god Osiris. A resurrection spell called the Sacrifice to Osiris was used to bring Buffy back to life. To preform this spell they had to use the Urn of Osiris along with several other objects. An incantation was recited along with the ceremonial items.The incantation is as follows:
"Osiris, keeper of the gate, master of all fate, hear us!
Before time and after, before knowing and nothing
Accept our offering, know our prayer.
Osiris, here lies the warrior of the people,
Let her cross over.
Osiris, let her cross over
Release her!"
 



A popular shoe brand called Osiris designs skate shoes. Some sources claim that they picked up the name as a joke, because Osiris is Lord over all the souls who enter into the Underworld, while the shoe brand is concerned with shoe soles. There are some disputes that say the shoe brand was not named for the Egyptian God but no evidence has been provided to back up these facts.

The Murder and Resurrection of Osiris Myth

One of the most famous myths of all about Osiris, is that of his death. The story all begins with Osiris's younger and very jealous brother Set. Set hated his brother and along with a few others he schemed and planned the murder of Osiris. One day Set carved a beautiful chest, he said he would give the chest to anyone who could fit inside. Of course Osiris wanted the chest so he climbed inside, but as he did Set slammed the lid shut and sealed it with molten gold. Trapped inside, Osiris was powerless and at the mercy of Set. Taking the beautiful chest with his brother inside, he then proceeded to throw it into the Nile River drowning his brother. When Isis, wife and sister of Osiris, learned of his disappearance she began to search high and low for her husband. Eventually she discovered the chest which had washed ashore and found its way into King Byblos's palace. However by the time she reached the chest, Set had already stolen the body from the chest and chopped it into millions of pieces, which he then scattered all throughout Egypt. Isis traveled all over Egypt collecting the pieces of his body and reassembling them into the god.When she finished there was still one crucial piece missing, so using her mighty powers she created the missing piece of Osiris's body out of gold. Once Osiris was entirely whole again, she resurrected him. However, her powers were only strong enough to keep him alive long enough to get pregnant with their son Horus. Osiris then moved on to the Underworld where he continued his rule.

 

Osiris

Description
Osiris is an Egyptian God. He was God of the Dead, God of Resurrection into eternal life, and the God of Vegetation. He was also Lord, Ruler, Protector and Judge of the Underworld; and because a god can never have too many titles he was also King of the gods. Naturally because he was God of Vegetation his skin was green. The green skin was also meant to represent decay. Most paintings and statues depict Osiris holding a crook and flail, they represented kingship.

Family
Osiris was the first son of Geb and Nut. He married Isis, his sister and Goddess of Motherhood. They had a son named Horus. After Osiris was killed by his brother Set, Horus married Isis. Osiris had another sister named Nephthys.