Seth, god of Chaos
Seth was the Egyptian god of Chaos. He was brother to Osiris, the wise and beloved god of the Underworld.
Seth had dominion (which means he ruled over) chaos and the barren desert. He was very powerful and much feared. He could be violent and destructve. For some parts of Egyptian history, he was viewed very similarly to the Devil. During other parts of history, he was seen more as someone who ruled over chaos, understanding that it had to be acknowledged before it could be defeated.
He was so terrible that often times Egyptian artists made sure to paint him smaller than he really was so that he looked harmless. They were afraid if they drew or painted him bigger, it might give him more power.
Seth has quite a varied history, having at one time killed his brother Osiris and chopped him up into little pieces, which Isis collected so she could put the god of the Underworld back together. (Myths can be so grisly sometimes, can’t they?) He also fought a ferocious battle with Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis.
But on his good days, Seth could use his ferocious power for good. He battled the serpent Apep to save Ra. And oftentimes Egyptian magicians invoked his magic in order to battle chaotic or dangerous forces, thinking one needed violence and destruction to fight violence and destruction. Rather like the old saying fight fire with fire.
But now you understand why having an entire secret organization devoted to Chaos would be a very, very bad thing!
December 7th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
How many other gods are there and what are they? I’m just wondering…
December 11th, 2007 at 6:23 am
Oh there is an entire pantheon of Egyptian gods, Shayda! Perhaps when I finish my studies, I will write about some more of them. But off the top of my head, there is:
Osiris
Isis
Thoth
Horus
Seth
Nepthys
Ra
SEkhmet
Oh, they’re just loads, really!
December 22nd, 2007 at 1:37 am
Sorry, I am a FREAK about Egypt now (since I read your book, thanks for starting my interest!) and…
I sorta memorized a lot of them. Well, some of them.
Some more are…
Hathor
Nut
Geb
Anubis
Ma’at
Amun
and Bastet
Sorry, I just love Egypt now, so I couldn’t help myself.
Bye!
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:35 am
Don’t apologize, Kyra! The more Egypt freaks the better as far as I’m concerned.
And you not only named some of the well known gods, but some of the lesser known ones as well. You really have gotten into Egypt! Hurray!
December 25th, 2007 at 12:42 am
as far as I’M concerned, the Egyptians enslaved “my” people. (i’m jewish). nothing at all meant against Egypt and your book, because i don’t believe the Torah anyway, well, not really. also, i just realized that ‘Kyra’ sort of sounds Egyptian-y! also, i have an entire list of egyptian gods right here! but it is really long, so instead i’ll just give you the website.
http://www.angelfire.com/me3/egyptgoddess/Gods.html
so there!
Paige
March 27th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Paige,
Your website is awesome!!
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:48 am
“From Aker to Wepwawet, you’ll know yah gods!!”
That should be the slogan of that website.
April 6th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Yeah. Really, it should.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
I know that these are not all eygyptian gods but I was born in New Orleans and during Mardi Gras there are many parades in honor of them. (excuse my horrid spelling)
Bacchus
Orphius
Endeimein
Proteus
Thoth
Zeus
Saturn
March 24th, 2009 at 1:39 am
i love seth he is my fav of all gods
March 24th, 2009 at 1:42 am
seth is the god of chaos and destruction i mean who actually gets that kind of power right from birth?
May 21st, 2009 at 11:32 pm
My favorite is Bastet and Isis.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:34 pm
I’m such an Egypt freak.It all started with the Theodosia books.Their so awesome!I just love them.They have history in them.That’s my favorite subject.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:22 am
Seth sounds a lot like my older brother. They’re both terminally chaotic!!
May 6th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
i read the Fablehaven books and there is a character named seth that really wreaks havoc and i thought it was funny that there was a god of chaos named seth
May 8th, 2010 at 3:42 am
How interesting, Annabeth! I wonder if that was on purpose or just a coincidence on the part of the author…
May 12th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
I love those books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seth certainly does cause plenty of chaos in those books.
August 21st, 2011 at 10:36 am
I came across a hyperlink to this weblog from Themelis Cuiper’s SocialGarden Biz events about social advertising & branding – you are doing a fantastic job as he is pointing towards you! :-d
October 17th, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Not to be rude but the god of Chaos is not SETH but its SET. Here are the gods i know by heart.
Anubis<3
Horus <3
Isis
Osiris
Thoth
Khons
Geb
Nut
Set
Nephthys
Sekhmet/ Hathor
Ra
Apep
October 17th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Anubis is the son of Set and Nephthys.
Horus is the son/brother of Isis and Osiris and Geb,Nut.
Isis sister of Osiris,Set,Horus, and Nephthys. Mother to Horus, and wife to Osiris.
Thoth is god of wisdom, and writing.
Khons is the god of moonlight.
Geb is god of the earth,father of Osiris,Isis,Nephthys,Horus,and Set.He is the husband of Nut.
Nut is goddess of the sky.She is ev’rything that Geb is.She added 5 extra days to the year to have her 5 kids because Ra wouldn’t let her have them.
Set god of chaos,brother to Osiris,Nephthys,Isis,and Horus.Father of Anubis. Lieutent to Ra’s ship.HE did have good in him though.
Nephthys is mother of Anubis. Wife to Set And sister to Horus,Set,Isis,And Osiris.
Sekhmet and Hathor are the same person.Sekhmet is the sun’s wrath whereas Hathor is her gentler side.
Ra is the head god of everything and is the sun god.
Apep is the manifestation of of evil and chaos.
Bastet is the goddess of cats and i guess fighting.
Shu is the god of the wind and can carry words if you are not careful.
R.L. can you use some of these and possibly put my name as the credits? Please?
October 18th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Actually Anaya, both are correct. If you do a google search, you will see that both are used by various encyclopedias and research sources. The research books I consulted used Seth, which is why I did. It was also the name more in use back in the early 1900’s.
Also, I’ve already talked about a lot of those gods in the Theodosia books, so I probably won’t be able to use your exact wording and therefore credit you.
Excellent recap, though!