Horus
Basic Information
Horus is the God of the Sky, and in some myths, the Egyptians thought he took the spot of Ra as the sun god. During various stages of age, baby, teenager, and adult, it is said that these represent the phases of the sun's path. Baby is early dawn, teenager is midday, and adult is dusk. Some myths also give him different parentage: he may be the child of the goddess Nut and the God Geb, or the child of the God Osiris and the Goddess Isis.
Horus is said to have the ability to distort space in some aspects. He is the God of the Sky, so being able to control that is obvious. Other powers he has are animal charming, telekinesis, shapeshifting, and Daut usage and travel. He can store weapons in the Daut while also traveling through it, much like Hades kids can travel through shadows. It’s also said he can possibly create storms and summon portals.
Brief History
Originally born on the second Demon Day, due to the sun god Ra cursing the sky goddess Nut from giving birth, Horus is the son of Geb (father) and Nut (mother). At some point, Horus was reborn as the son of Osiris (father) and Isis (mother), thus becoming known as “Horus the Young” or, in other places, known as “Horus the Child”. Osiris was murdered by Seth, his brother, and while that was going on, Isis hid infant Horus from his uncle and started to plot against Seth…hang on a second, this sounds familiar. A child hidden from a powerful relative who is going around hacking and slashing people? Mmmm, I wonder where I’ve heard that before.So, after years of training, or whenever he comes of age, Horus retrieves the casket his father was encased in. However, his uncle Seth destroyed it and scattered it all over Egypt. This enraged Horus, so he and Seth engaged in battle. Horus eventually came out on top, which caused Seth to be banished beyond Egypt's borders. During battle, Seth ripped out one of Horus’ eyes, which was replaced by Thoth, the moon goddess. This eye represented the waning and waxing of the moon and was later known as the Eye of Horus. During the lunar cycle, the moon appears to be torn out before being restored once.
Now that Seth was gone, Horus took the throne as the new king of the gods. During his reign, he reinstated his parents’ policies and eventually reunited all of Egypt, which earned him the title of “Horus, the one who united the two lands” or Horu-Sema-Tawy. After a while, Horus took Hathor as his wife. Together, they had four sons, Imsety, Duamutef, Hapi, and Qebehsenuef. Try saying those names 5 times fast.
Trivia
- Horus’ wife, Hathor, is the goddess of Joy and Happiness, so their marriage must be pretty good. Maybe a few of us could take some tips from that (except me, ew marriage)
- It is said that Horus’ knowledge of magic is pretty basic, having him state that he hits an enemy with a sword until they die and then does it again if they rise from the dead. It’s also believed that this was how Horus defeated Seth in their seven-year-long battle. That’s one long and painful battle. Can you imagine Horus bonking Seth, and for Seth to be like, “Oh come on, really dude? Again!?”
- It’s said that if a boat had the eye of Horus on it, they were protected; thus, it explains why so many boats have it engraved into their wood.
- Horus is the equivalent of Uranus, Zeus, and Ares from Greek Mythology.
Sources & Credits
Information from Horus - Riordan Wiki
Written by Emi Bountan