Isis

> *"The only person that will kill Osiris will be me, Set. Even in my next life. Or my fourth, or my fifth. I will kill him in the end. That will be my revenge against the man who wronged me."*
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## Isis

### Aliases

Io
Phoronis

## Personal Status

### Relatives

* Zeus (Former lover)
* Osiris (Brother/Husband)
* Horus (Son)
* Set (Brother)
* Nephthys (Sister/Sister-in-law)
* Anubis Ma'at (Nephew, via Osiris)
* Phoebe Ma'at (Incarnate)

## Professional Status

### Occupation(s)

Priestess of Hera in Argos (Formerly)
Pharaoh of Aram (Formerly)

**Isis** was the goddess of fertility and was also known as the goddess of motherhood, magic, death, healing, and rebirth. She was formerly known as **Io**, a priestess of the goddess Hera in Argos and a lover of Zeus.

## Personality

Isis was, at times, sympathetic to those around her, including those she cared about, like Horus and Anubis, but she often used this as a mask for her true goals: taking revenge on Seth, Osiris, and the gods who abandoned her while she was on the run. She is deeply saddened by her lost family: the husband and sister who betrayed her, and the brother who hunted her and destroyed Aram. She is haunted by her own guilt as well in regard to Set. She was also furious at all the horrible things Set did to Aram, and wanted his soul to be dissolved out of revenge and also an attempt to ensure Osiris never gets what he wants most: Set. Despite her love for humans, she had done little to fully stop the slave trade during her time as ruler of Aram, particularly when it came to male slaves, due to her apparent hatred of them.

## History

Io was a priestess of the Goddess Hera in Argos. Zeus noticed Io, a mortal woman, and lusted after her. She initially rejected Zeus' advances, until her father threw her out of his house on the advice of oracles. Zeus then turned Io into a heifer (a young female bovine who has not yet given birth) in order to hide her from his wife, Hera.

The deception failed, however, and Hera begged Zeus to give her the heifer as a present, which, having no reason to refuse, he did. Hera then sent Argus Panoptes, a giant who had 100 eyes, to watch Io and prevent Zeus from visiting her, and so Zeus sent Hermes to distract and eventually slay Argus. He did so by first lulling him to sleep by playing the panpipes and telling stories. Zeus freed Io, still in the form of a heifer. Hera uses Argus' eyes to decorate her peacock's feathers to thank the giant for his help.

In order to exact her revenge, Hera sent a gadfly to sting Io continuously, driving her to wander the world without rest. Io eventually crossed the path between the Propontis and the Black Sea, which thus acquired the name Bosporus (meaning *ox passage*), where she met Prometheus, who had been chained on Mt. Caucasus by Zeus. Prometheus comforted Io with the information that she would be restored to human form and become the ancestress of the greatest of all heroes, Heracles (Hercules). Io escaped across the Ionian Sea to Aram, where she was restored to human form by Zeus. There, she gave birth to Zeus's son Epaphus, and a daughter as well, Keroessa. It was apparently there where she married the king, Osiris, who was also her brother.

Io at some point landed at Damalis, and the Chalcedonians erected a bronze cow on the spot.

### Mother goddess

Isis then gave birth to Horus, after a long pregnancy and a difficult labor, in the papyrus thickets of the Nile Delta. As her child grew, she protected him from Set and many other hazards—snakes, scorpions, and simple illness. Isis traveled among humans and desired their help. Seven minor scorpion deities traveled with and guarded her. They took revenge on a wealthy woman who refused to help Isis by stinging the woman's son, making it necessary for the goddess to heal the blameless child. Isis's reputation as a compassionate deity, willing to relieve human suffering, contributed greatly to her appeal.

Isis continued to assist her son when he challenged Set to claim the kingship that Set usurped, although mother and son are sometimes portrayed in conflict, as when Horus beheaded Isis and she replaced her original head with that of a cow—an explanation of the cow-horn headdress that Isis wears.

### Goddess of magic and wisdom

Isis was also known for her magical power, which enabled her to revive Osiris and to protect and heal Horus, and for her cunningness. By virtue of her magical knowledge, she was said to be "more clever than a million gods". Isis used these abilities to outmaneuver Set during his conflict with her son. On one occasion, she transformed into a young woman who tells Set she was involved in an inheritance dispute similar to Set's usurpation of Osiris's crown. When Set called this situation unjust, Isis taunted him, saying he had judged himself to be in the wrong.

### The Beginning of the End

The night Set learns the truth of Anubis' parentage, Nephthys tells Isis as well. Isis is furious, and abandons Nephthys, going after Set and Osiris. She comes across them while Osiris is threatening Set with Anubis as collateral, and witnesses Osiris and Set together. Horrified, she flees to her rooms, and casts a curse on all four siblings, so that they shall never have what they most desire, so long as her heart doesn't beat: Osiris will never have Set, Set will never have his family, Nephthys will never die, and Isis will never have Osiris. She then stabs herself, stopping her heart.

### Death and reincarnation

Protecting Osiris from Set cost Isis her life at the hands of Set. She did this because the only person that will kill Osiris would be her, even in her next life, it will be her. After this, her soul got reincarnated into Phoebe Ma'at, who also shares her hatred of Osiris.

## Relationship

### Family:

#### Osiris

Osiris and Isis had a complicated relationship: Isis wanted to avenge herself on Osiris, for cheating on her with Set, and deny Osiris his greatest desire (Set being with him in death), whereas Osiris seemed to view Isis as a means to an end: controlling the throne of Aram.

#### Set

Isis and Seth had a very complicated relationship. While they were both victims of Osiris, they were also enemies, both in one way or another competing for the throne. Set is said to have killed many woman that reminded him of Isis. After a confrontation with Isis (within Phoebe), they seem to have briefly dropped their plans of personal revenge against each other and Isis encouraged him to do what he wanted. Isis later still wished to dissolve Set's soul.