Serapis or Hermes is sometimes represented
as identical with Osiris, and sometimes as a distinct divinity,
the ruler of Tartarus and god of medicine. Anubis is the guardian
god, represented with a dog's head, emblematic of his character of
fidelity and watchfulness. Horus or Harpocrates was the son of
Osiris. He is represented seated on a Lotus flower, with his
finger on his lips, as the god of Silence.
In one of Moore's "Irish Melodies" is an allusion to Harpocrates:
"Thyself shall, under some rosy bower,
Sit mute, with thy finger on thy lip;
Like him, the boy, who born among
The flowers that on the Nile-stream blush,
Sits ever thus,--his only song
To Earth and Heaven, 'Hush all, hush!'"
MYTH OF OSIRIS AND ISIS
Osiris and Isis were at one time induced to descend to the earth
to bestow gifts and blessings on its inhabitants. Isis showed them
first the use of wheat and barley, and Osiris made the instruments
of agriculture and taught men the use of them, as well as how to
harness the ox to the plough. He then gave men laws, the
institution of marriage, a civil organization, and taught them how
to worship the gods. After he had thus made the valley of the Nile
a happy country, he assembled a host with which he went to bestow
his blessings upon the rest of the world.
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