Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths, Part A

(Isis, the Egyptian goddess; source: Wikipedia)

My favorite story in the collection is that of Isis plotting to trick Ra into revealing his secret name, thereby granting her powers equal in measure to his.

Plot:

• Isis, who had grown sick of dwelling with mankind on earth, sought to become divine and reside in the heavens. She knows she is capable of attaining power by obtaining the secret name of Ra which would give her powers like his.
• Ra had grown old and would spit while speaking. Isis took the spit covered earth and fashioned it into a spear that then transformed into a venomous serpent. Knowing this serpent was invisible to men and gods, she threw it into a path that she knew Ra would traverse regularly.
• The serpent bites Ra and he falls into fits of unbearable pain. He tells the other gods that when Nu created him, he imbibed powers in him by bestowing him with a secret name that was hidden in his bosom. Though his powers were supposed to protect him from all harm, he has fallen at the hands of an unknown source. He requests the other gods to bring his children to him.
• Isis, feigning innocence, approaches Ra and tells him that she is capable of healing him of the snake's bite if he gave her his secret name and its associated powers.
• Ra gives a monologue of his strength but Isis watches him without any inkling of guilt. After she asks him to give her the name another time, he acquiesces due to the pain. 
• After he commands that his secret name shall be given to Isis, he disappears. In this moment, Isis asks her son Horus to use powerful magic to take Ra's eyes which represent the sun and moon from him.
• Once she receives his name in her bosom, she uses her newfound power to cure him of the venom's effects.

Characters:

• Isis - conniving goddess, ambition is to be powerful, doesn't care for Ra
• Ra - most powerful god, has grown old, reluctant to give up his secret name
• Horus - Isis' son, now possesses Ra's eyes (sun and moon)

Style:

• Begins with exposition and context for the story and characters' motivations and then jumps into the actions of the characters themselves.
• Instead of "spoke," the word "spake" is often used.

Bibliography. Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).