This week, I decided to read Egyptian Myths. I haven't experimented much with my reading notes, so I thought I'd play around this week and try writing my thoughts about a few specific stories that I have stronger opinions about.
1. Creation
I found the first story about creation a little bit confusing, and wasn't quite sure of the distinction between Ra and Nu. This may have more to do with the writing style than anything. I did think that the way Nut arches over Seb could make for a sad forbidden love story, but I don't think I'm interested enough to rewrite this one. Overall, my takeaway from this story is that I want to strive for clarity in my writing.
The most interesting aspect of this story to me was that Isis, while her method of getting Ra's secret name was nefarious, wasn't actually wanting the power that came from it for malicious reasons. I suppose one could argue that the desire for power is in itself bad, but it's not like she uses the power for evil. I was really surprised that she didn't kill Ra, and instead saved his life after poisoning him with the snake. I think I would enjoy rewriting this story in a way that gave Isis a motive beyond power for power's sake, maybe casting her as more of a true villain.
Some of this story was pretty boring to me - the tree stuff and the holy pillar, for example. I also didn't understand at all why Isis was making the royal baby immortal, or why the royal baby featured in the story to the degree that it did. I could strike off on that tangent and write a background story on said royal baby, but I also thought it would be a fun continuation on the theme of my previous story (See Samael) to focus on Osiris getting chopped into pieces. I do wonder how Isis felt when she noticed his member was missing.
Currently, I'm thinking my best option is number two, probably written as more of a character study from Isis's perspective. There are more stories yet to be read, however, so this may change.
Image: Isis. Source.
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