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41 ries of the Near Eastern gods. The Egyptian sources on which he relied were believed at the time to have been writings of the god Thoth himself, who. as the Scribe of the Gods, recorded for all times their histories and deeds upon this Earth. "Now the story of Isis and Osiris, its most significant [retained] and superfluous parts omitted, is thus briefly related," wrote Plu- tarch in his opening sentence and went on to tell that Nut (whom the Greeks compared with their goddess Rhea) had mothered three sons: the firstborn was Osiris, the last Seth. She also gave birth to two daughters, Isis and Nephtys. But not all of these children were really fathered by Geb: only Seth and Nephtys were. Osiris and his second brother were in truth fathered by the god Ra, who came unto his granddaughter Nut in stealth; and Isis was fathered by Thoth (the Greek god Hermes) who, "being likewise in love with the same goddess," reciprocated in various ways "in recompense for the favours which he had received from her." The setting, then, was this: the firstborn was Osiris, and. though not by Geb. his claim to the succession was even greater, having been fathered by the great Ra himself. But the legitimate heir was Seth, having been born to the ruling Geb by his half-sister Nut. As if this were not enough, matters were further complicated by the race between the two brothers to assure that their son would be the next legitimate successor. To achieve that Seth could have fathered a son only by his half-sister Isis, whereas Osiris could achieve this by fathering a son by either Isis or Nephtys (both being only half- sisters to him). But Osiris deliberately blocked Seth's chances to have his descendants rale over Egypt by taking Isis as his spouse. Seth then married Nephtys; but as she was his full sister, none of their offspring could qualify. So was the stage set for Seth's increasingly violent rage against Osiris, who deprived him both of the throne and of the succession. The occasion for Seth's revenge, according to Plutarch, was the visit to Egypt of "a certain queen of Ethiopia named Aso. “In con- spiracy with his supporters Seth held a banquet in her honor, to which all the gods were invited. For his scheme Seth had a magnif- icent chest constructed, large enough to hold Osiris: "This chest he brought into the banqueting room; where, after it had been much admired by all who were present, Seth—as though in jest- promised to give it to any one of them whose body it would fit. Upon this the whole company, one after the other, went into the chest. "Last of all, Osiris lay himself down in it, upon which the con- The Contending of Horus and Seth