THE SCENE: The death and burial of the Egyptian god Osiris (including a description of what happened to his cock) is recounted in this lively account by Diodorus Siculus.
THE TEXT: When Osiris was ruling over Egypt as its lawful king, he was murdered by his brother Typhon, a violent and impious man. Typhon then divided the body of the slain man into twenty-six pieces and gave one portion to each of the band of murderers, since he wanted all of them to share in the pollution and felt that in this way he would have in them steadfast supporters and defenders of his rule. But Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, avenged his murder with the aid of her son Horus, and after slaying Typhon and his accomplices became queen over Egypt.
Now Isis recovered all the pieces of the body except the privates, and wishing that the burial-place of her husband should remain secret and yet be honoured by all the inhabitants of Egypt, she fulfilled her purpose in somewhat the following manner. Over each piece of the body, as the account goes, she fashioned out of spices and wax a human figure about he size of Osiris; then summoning the priests group by group, she required of them all an oath that they would reveal to no one the trust which she was going to confide to them, and taking each group of them apart privately she said that she was consigning to them alone the burial of the body, and after reminding them of the benefactions of Osiris she exhorted them to bury his body in their own district.
The priests, it is said, being mindful of the benefactions of Osiris and eager to lease the queen who was petitioning them, did everything just as Isis had suggested. It is for this reason that even to this day each group of priests supposes that Osiris lies buried in their district.
Now the parts of the body of Osiris which were found were honoured with burial, they say, but the privates, according to them, were thrown by Typhon into the Nile because no one of his accomplices was willing to take them. Yet Isis though them as worthy of divine honours as the other parts, for, fashioning a likeness of them, she set it up in the temples, commanded that it be honoured, and made it the object of the highest regard and reverence in the rites and sacrifices according to the god.
– Bibliotheca Historica, Diodorus Siculus, 1st Century BC
