21 October 2020

Stoned for Saying ‘Osiris’

Herodotus refuses to utter the name Osiris on four occasions:

II.61
ἐν δὲ Βουσίρι πόλι ὡς ἀνάγουσι τῇ Ἴσι τὴν ὁρτήν, εἴρηται πρότερόν μοι· τύπτονται μὲν γὰρ δὴ μετὰ τὴν θυσίην πάντες καὶ πᾶσαι, μυριάδες κάρτα πολλαὶ ἀνθρώπων. τὸν δὲ τύπτονται, οὔ μοι ὅσιόν ἐστι λέγειν.
It have already said how they carry out the festival of Isis at Busiris. After the sacrifice they all make lamentation; men and women in great number.  But it would be unholy for me to say which god they lament.

II.86
καὶ τὴν μὲν σπουδαιοτάτην αὐτέων φασὶ εἶναι τοῦ οὐκ ὅσιον ποιεῦμαι τὸ οὔνομα ἐπὶ τοιούτῳ πρήγματι ὀνομάζειν.
The most important method of [mummification] belongs to that One whose name would be unholy to mention while speaking of this thing. 

II.132
ἔστι δὲ ἡ βοῦς οὐκ ὀρθὴ ἀλλ᾿ ἐν γούνασι κειμένη, μέγαθος δὲ ὅση περ μεγάλη βοῦς ζωή. ἐκφέρεται δὲ ἐκ τοῦ οἰκήματος ἀνὰ πάντα ἔτεα, ἐπεὰν τύπτωνται Αἰγύπτιοι τὸν οὐκ ὀνομαζόμενον θεὸν ὑπ᾿ ἐμεῦ ἐπὶ τοιούτῳ πρήγματι.
The [statue of the] cow does not stand up straight but kneels, and its size is that of a large living cow. It is borne out of its chamber once a year, whenever the Egyptians mourn that god who may not be mentioned by me while while speaking of this thing. 

II.170–1 εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ αἱ ταφαὶ τοῦ οὐκ ὅσιον ποιεῦμαι ἐπὶ τοιούτῳ πρήγματι ἐξαγορεύειν τὸ οὔνομα ἐν Σάϊ … λίμνη τε ἐστὶ ἐχομένη… Ἐν δὲ τῇ λίμνῃ ταύτῃ τὰ δείκηλα τῶν παθέων αὐτοῦ νυκτὸς ποιεῦσι, τὰ καλέουσι μυστήρια Αἰγύπτιοι. περὶ μέν νυν τούτων εἰδότι μοι ἐπὶ πλέον ὡς ἕκαστα αὐτῶν ἔχει, εὔστομα κείσθω.
At Saïs there is also the tomb of the One whose name it would be unholy to divulge while speaking of this thing. […] There is a lake nearby, […] and in this lake they represent His sufferings by night. They Egyptians call these the Mysteries. Though I know more about these things, and how it all happens, I shall stay silent. 

But three times he says it outright. 

II.42
θεοὺς γὰρ δὴ οὐ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἅπαντες ὁμοίως Αἰγύπτιοι σέβονται, πλὴν Ἴσιός τε καὶ Ὀσίριος, τὸν δὴ Διόνυσον εἶναι λέγουσι.
The Egyptians do not all worship the same gods, apart from Isis and Osiris (who, they say, is Dionysus.)

II.144
ὕστατον δὲ αὐτῆς βασιλεῦσαι Ὦρον τὸν Ὀσίριος παῖδα, τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα Ἕλληνες ὀνομάζουσι· τοῦτον καταπαύσαντα Τυφῶνα βασιλεῦσαι ὕστατον Αἰγύπτου. Ὄσιρις δὲ ἐστὶ Διόνυσος κατὰ Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν.
The last of these to rule was Horus the son of Osiris, whom the Greeks call Apollo. They say that he overthrew Typhon and was the last [god] to rule Egypt. Now Osiris is ‘Dionysus’ in the Greek language.  

II.156
ὅτε τὸ πᾶν διζήμενος ὁ Τυφῶν ἐπῆλθε, θέλων ἐξευρεῖν τοῦ Ὀσίριος τὸν παῖδα.
...When Typhon, having searched the world, arrived trying to find the son of Osiris.

Thus there is an apparent contradiction. Why is Herodotus ready to say Osiris in some places but not others? It might be possible to distinguish these sets of cases from each other, as follows. Each time that he refuses to say Osiris, it is in connection with the details of a religious rite. At II.61, it is the festival of Isis. At II.86, it is the ritual of mummification. At II.132, it is the festival of Isis at Saïs; and at II.170–1, it is the festival of Osiris himself in the same place. Every time he Herodotus does say Osiris’ name, he is not discussing any such rites. At  II.42 he is making a generic statement about the Egyptian pantheon, and at II.144 and II.156 he is merely recounting the details of a mythological story.

Thus the rule would seem to be: Osiris’ name may be freely mentioned, except when in so doing any religious mysteries or other rituals could be attributed to him. 

Perhaps this point is best illustrated by a popular story. One day some Oxford dons went bathing in the river, and were surprised by some ladies on a punt. They all ducked under the water to hide their naked bodies, but one stayed standing and only covered his faceHe said: ‘let them see the rest; it’s only my face that they’d recognize me by.’ 

Herodotus felt no shame in mentioning Osiris’ name in a profane context; when, as it were, his clothes were on. And sometimes scholarly duty compelled him to recount the details of mysterious rites that involved Osiris. But on such occasions, he suppressed the god’s name, because if Osiris’ mysteries had to be bared, at least his face could be covered.

On inspection, Herodotus never says that it would be absolutely forbidden to say Osiris’ name, only ever ἐπι τοιούτῳ πρήγματι; in connection with this matter; i.e., in connection with sacred rites. His prohibition is not against saying the name of the gods, which is a license that he in fact allows himself explicitly at II.3:

τὰ μέν νυν θεῖα τῶν ἀπηγημάτων οἷα ἤκουον οὐκ εἰμὶ πρόθυμος ἐξηγέεσθαι, ἔξω ἢ τὰ οὐνόματα αὐτῶν μοῦνον.
I am not prepared to expound the divine elements of such tales as I have heard, with the single exception of the names of the gods
 
Osiris seems to be covered by this exception just like any other divine name: Herodotus says it three times without blinking, and only refuses when a second prohibition—the one against giving the mysteries away—would otherwise be violated. 

Now, the following paragraph appears in Flavius Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities (II.275-6/xii.4): 

Μωϋσῆς δ’ οὐκ ἔχων ἀπιστεῖν οἷς ἐπηγγέλλετο τὸ θεῖον θεατής γε τοιούτων βεβαιωμάτων καὶ ἀκροατὴς γενόμενος, εὐξάμενος αὐτῷ καὶ πειραθῆναι ταύτης τῆς δυνάμεως ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δεηθεὶς ἠντιβόλει μηδὲ ὀνόματος αὐτῷ γνῶσιν τοῦ ἰδίου φθονῆσαι, φωνῆς δ’ αὐτῷ μετεσχηκότι καὶ ὄψεως ἔτι καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν εἰπεῖν, ἵνα θύων ἐξ ὀνόματος αὐτὸν παρεῖναι τοῖς ἱεροῖς παρακαλῇ. καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτῷ σημαίνει τὴν αὑτοῦ προσηγορίαν οὐ πρότερον εἰς ἀνθρώπους παρελθοῦσαν, περὶ ἧς οὔ μοι θεμιτὸν εἰπεῖν.

After seeing and hearing such proofs, Moses could not but believe what the Godhead had revealed to him [cf. Exodus 4:1], and begged God that he might be entrusted with such powers in Egypt; and also asked Him not to deny him the knowledge of His name. God, who had already granted Moses a vision and hearing of Himself, should also tell him His appellation, so that Moses might summon him to sacred rites whenever he was offering sacrifices. So God revealed His appellation to him, which had never before come down to men. But it would be impious for me to speak of it.

It is difficult to read the last sentence and not think that Josephus was imitating Herodotus. I want to observe that the imitation is even closer than it might appear. Josephus is not merely refusing to say the name of God: he is refusing to say the name of God in connection with sacrificial rituals. If you open Exodus 3:13–15, Moses asks to know God’s real name for a different reason than the one Josephus gives: he wants it to win the Israelites’ trust. According to Josephus, Moses wants to know it so that he can carry out religious rites. And immediately after saying this, Josephus comments ostentatiously that he cannot divulge the name to his readers. We are not allowed to know the name of God as it is uttered during holy sacrifices. This is the Osiris principle, and even if Josephus did not feel bound by it, he at least appears to have imitated it as a literary device from the father of ethnography.