Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 81

Osiris

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the dead and lord of the underworld.  The figure above is not Osiris; it is the deceased inhabitant of an Egyptian tomb appearing naked before the god Osiris.

According to Egyptian myth, Osiris was murdered by his brother, the god Set, chopped up into 14 pieces, and scattered across the country.  His wife, Isis, who was also his sister, retrieved all of the pieces except his penis.  It had been eaten by fish in the Nile.

So Isis made a new phallus for the resurrected body of Osiris, apparently good enough to conceive a child, the falcon-headed god Horus.  The "corn mummy" above, inside a falcon-headed sarcophagus, shows the dead Osiris.  His body is wrapped, but he has a significant bulge.

Statues of Osiris always had an erection.  Apparently his penis was connected to his ability to resurrect you into the afterlife after you died.

But this is a more accurate view of Osiris.  This is the same figure as the previous photo, but it is lying down.  Osiris was always shown lying down, to emphasize that he was dead, and yet he lived again.