Horus vs. Seth

In early Egyptian myth, Seth (Set, Setekh, Sut, Sutekh, Suty) was a popular and beneficial deity, but by the Third Intermediate Period Seth was portrayed as evil. In the Nineteenth Dynasty he saw a revival, but he has been type-cast as the villian by the Greek, Roman, and Christian theologists.

Seth used to battle Horus the Elder in the good old days. It was meant to be a never-ending battle because Seth and Horus the Elder were equals. When Seth was villianized a myth was created to destroy him (and end the struggle between good and evil, with good winning). Seth's wife disguised herself as Isis and slept with Osiris, leading to the birth of Anubis. Instead of punishing his own wife, Seth held a grudge against Osiris and killed him. Isis somehow conceived a child with Osiris's dead and dismembered corpse.... Enter Horus the Younger (representing both the royal heir and the newborn sun), who took the place of Horace the Elder in battle with Seth. This Horus, trained in magic by Thoth, was more-than-a-match for Seth, as powerful as he was. This myth is often used as a metaphor for the reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt (Seth = Upper, Horus = Lower). (http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/set.html)

I've noticed many parallels between the story of Harry vs. Voldemort and Horus the Younger vs. Seth:

• Seth kills Osiris (but not Isis); Voldemort kills James (and kills Lily only after giving her the chance to live).


• Horus the Younger battles Seth to avenge his father's death and is victorious; Harry will battle Voldemort to avenge his parents' deaths...and he should be victorious.


• Thoth protects Horus and prepares him for battle; Dumbledore does much the same for Harry. The parallels between Thoth and Dumbledore are too numerous to even list here....


• Seth is sometimes described as albino with red eyes (but he has hair, not bald); Voldemort is white skinned and red-eyed.


• When Horus is in battle, he takes the form of a winged disk, which looks almost exactly like a golden snitch.... Seth (the villian) is associated with water animals, like snakes, crocodiles, and hippos. The Egyptians feared all of these animals, so they were thought of as "dark" creatures. When Seth gathers his army to wage war he has many of these animals with him, and Seth himself takes the form of either a crock or a hippo when he fights. Of course, Voldemort has gone through many transformations and has gained some snake-like features... plus he has Nagini by his side. I don't know about crocks or hippos, but Voldemort has giants, dementors, and inferi. Harry won't magically transform into a snitch, but he will have to play "hard to get" and should use youth and speed to his advantage, making him act like a snitch even though he won't look like one.

There are also some parallels between Horus the Elder and Harry. Horus the Elder also represented the sun (and the moon). One eye was the sun, one eye the moon, and images called the "Eye of Horus" were thought to be powerful protection amulets. Horus is god of the rising and setting sun.

Horus the Elder was blinded, leading him to kill the wrong person (someone on his side) during battle. He didn't realize the mistake until his sight had been restored. I suspect that Harry will have issues with his sight (perhaps he will lose his glasses in battle, or maybe this is just a matter of his perception) then his sight will be restored (or his perceptions will change), just to find out that he has killed, injured, or placed in mortal danger someone who was on his side all along. The best candidate for this loyal person who suffers from Harry's "blindness" is Snape.