Seth is a deity that gets a reputation that he simply doesn’t deserve. He generally was labeled by the Ancient Egyptians as evil, satanic, perverted and represented everything wrong with the world. Although he wasn’t viewed that way by every single Egyptian. After all he was one of the oldest recorded gods of the egyptian pantheon and was the patron God of an entire section of Egypt (Lower Egypt) He had an entire cult following exactly like his nephew Horus (or in other versions of the myth his brother) who was the patron god of Upper Egypt. It’s important to remember that those who considered themselves the followers of Seth did not view him as evil. Not many people would choose for their patron God someone who they viewed to be the embodiment of everything wrong in the world. Is there an alternate view of Seth that paints him a better light? Perhaps a more accurate light?
In the temples of the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis which was the patron city of the sun God Re we find the recorded story of how the Egyptians viewed their universe to have been created. They worshipped nine gods they believed were responsible for the creation of the universe called the Ennead. The story starts off with the creator God Re (later merged with Atum to become Atum-Re) who self-created himself through masturbation and emerged from the chaotic waters of Nun. Re then produces Shu, the God of air and Tefnut the goddess of moisture. The two siblings mate and produce Geb, the God of the Earth and Nut, the goddess of the sky. Geb and Nut then produce four children: Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nepthys.
The interesting thing about this story is that this is not the only version of the birth of the gods that came out of Heliopolis. There is another identical version however in this version Geb and Nut produce five children: Osiris, Isis, Seth, Nepthys and Horus the Elder (called Heru’Ur by the ancient Egyptians) Horus the elder is distinct from Horus son of Osiris and Isis. He has the same appearance and attributes as his younger version except unlike him he has never known youth. We’ll come back to this later.
Starting from Atum-Re Egypt was ruled by these god-kings. Re, Shu and Geb were all pharohs of Egypt and later on Geb passed his rulership to his first born son Osiris. Osiris is said to have peacefully ruled Egypt with his wife and queen Isis and that there was harmony and prosperity throughout the land. Seth however became jealous of Osiris’ success as ruler and then plotted to kill him and rule Egypt himself.
Before I go on I want to remind you that history is always written by the victors. The ones who end up conquering a group of people usually end up changing the story of the conflict to make it seem like they were always in the right and to silence the ones they concquered from telling their side of the story. Could this be the case here?
Consider how the myth states that Osiris ruled over Egypt and how there was order, stability and harmony. However this is not the full story. Other versions of the myths also say that Osiris slept with Seth’s wife Nepthys and produced a son Anubis, the God of Death. In my interpretation Osiris let the power of being pharaoh go to his head and started becoming arrogant and thinking that he could go out of his bounds and do whatever he wanted including sleeping with his brothers’ wife. Osiris was normally depicted with green skin and I find it interesting how green is a color that is often associated with greed. Osiris forgot that he couldn’t just take what didn’t belong to him just because he is king. Cosmic law still applies to him. Not only that but Osiris’ and Nepthys’ affair was said to produce Anubis, the God of Death. Osiris’ actions can be interpreted as the act brought death into the world. Actions do indeed have consequences.
How does Seth play into this? Seth is a God of justice. Although Geb appointed Osiris to be pharaoh of Egypt it is my opinion (this is not stated in the text just my own thoughts) that Seth was appointed to be his vizier, his right hand man to make sure his rule stayed balanced and harmonious and when Osiris overstepped his place and slept with Nepthys, Seth out of his deep sense of justice dismembered Osiris. When showing these qualities here Seth takes on another form: Horus the Elder.
Seth is in fact Horus the Elder. The God of divine justice who was simply doing his job after Osiris’ reign as pharaoh began to lose its stability. To the followers of Osiris this is not a narrative that can be accepted as it paints their patron god in a horrible light. So what do they do? They manipulate the story just enough to make Osiris seem like a perfect innocent victim and Seth out to seem like an evil monster who dismembered his brother for no other reason than jealousy.
Seth has been vilified ever since. He has been made out to be evil and disordered all for just trying to keep peace after Osiris threatened it. It was the followers of Osiris and his son Horus the Younger whose mentality won out over that of Seth/Horus the Elder. The same way a child ignorantly makes their parent out to be an evil fun killer if they ask them to do something as simple as to come inside from playing for a second to wash the dishes.
Another thing that is important to remember in this case is the law cause and effect. You might ask how that is related to this? Seth was considered a God of violence and disorder by the ancient Egyptians and I’m not going to argue that he wasn’t. He portrays violent and disordered tendencies in many myths. But what caused him to be that way? It never occurs to anybody that Seth became a God of violence and disorder by the way he was unjustly treated. The myths say that after 80 years of fighting between Seth and Horus the Younger over who should be the rightful king of Egypt after the death of Osiris that Horus should be Pharaoh and that Seth be banished to the desert. Hence Seth also being known as the God of the foreign desert lands around the fertile plains of the Nile River. Being unjustly banished for doing nothing but trying to do the right thing and keeping peace can understandably make someone go mad.
This is simply my interpretation on the matter and if you disagree then that’s fine. It is of my opinion that Seth has not deserved the reputation he has gotten over the millennia. He is not evil. He is Horus the Elder. He is a God of justice and order who has been misunderstood by a childish mentality of ignorance.
