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The ancient Egyptian traditions which grew up
around the Oxyrhynchus fish are varied and
complex. The best known, preserved by Plutarch,
a Greek priest of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi
writing in the second century A.D., in chapter 72
of his monumental opus De Iside recounts how
the citizens of Oxyrhynchus engaged in a bloody
confrontation with the citizens of neighboring
Kynopolis because the citizens of Kynopolis ate
the Oxyrhynchus fish. That account in Plutarch
differs from the two ancient Egyptian accounts of
this fish, both of which are associated with the
god Osiris. As one recalls, Osiris and his brother,
Seth, became embroiled in a conflict for power
with the result that Seth triumphed over Osiris. In
so doing, he dismembered the body of Osiris and
scattered it far and wide. Isis, the dutiful wife
and, incidentally, sister of Osiris, gathered up the
pieces and reassembled them, but not before the
Oxyrhynchus fish ate his phallus. The phallus
was necessary for the posthumous conception of
Osiris’s son and heir, Horus. In another version
of the myth, the Oxyrhynchus fish emerged from
the wounds of Osiris himself. Whatever the truth
in these matters might be, the Oxyrhynchus fish
was inextricably associated with the god Osiris
and revered by the ancient Egyptians.
Such objects were frequently dedicated in
sanctuaries by pious pilgrims as ex-votos to
accompany their prayers.
- (RP.229)
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