Seth
(aka Set, Suetekh)
Seth
was the brother of Osiris and Isis, as well as
the brother/husband of Nephthys.
Son of Geb and Nut.
Early in Egyptian history, Seth is spoken of in terms of reverence
as
the god of wind and storms.
He represented everything that threatened
harmony in Egypt.
He was even known as the Lord of Upper
Egypt.
Horus being the Lord of Lower Egypt.
It was Seth who stood in the
front of the solar barque to defended the sun god Ra
from his most dangerous
foe, the serpent Apep.
At this time, he seems to have had no conflicts with the
cults of Isis or Osiris.
In fact, he was part of the same family of gods, and
married to his twin sister, Nephthys.
However, it appears the followers of Seth may have resisted the followers of Horus and the
First Dynasty pharaoh, Menes, when he united Upper and Lower Egypt.
This struggle for control of
Egypt seems to be reflected in the mythology.
At this point, Seth is portrayed as questioning the
authority of his brother, Osiris.
The Osiris cults took this opportunity to discredit the followers of
Seth;
he was now considered to be Osiris' evil brother.
And the story was told that Seth was evil
since birth,
because he ripped himself from his mother's womb by tearing through her side.
In the
Osiris legends, it is Seth who tricks and murders Osiris.
He is also the antagonist of Horus.
By the
Twenty-sixth Dynasty, Seth was the embodiment of evil.
He was depicted with red eyes and hair.
The ancient Egyptians beleived red represented evil.