198 ■ Oiigin of Mijthologtj. 



ral name of a musician. Orpheus is merely a personifi- 

 cation of music, "^' 



■Osiris, a celebrated king and deity of Egypt, is a per- 

 son that m.akes a great figure in history, as well as in fa- 

 ble. Faber alledges that in reality, Osiris was the same 

 as Cronus or Noah ; and to prove the point, he adduces 

 an etymology from the Hiberno-Celtic,'On the authority of 

 Valjancey, ^vho informs us, that in that language, Eiss- 

 Aire, signify the commander of a ship.f 



Osiris is represented as having civilized his own sub- 

 jects, giving them salutary laws and teaching them agri- 

 culture. Afterv.ards he resolved to :\'isit other parts of 

 the earth, to spread civilization, and actually accomplish- 

 ed his purpose. On his return, he found his brother 

 Typhon had raised seditions in his kingdom. In this 

 story we have perhaps a represe-iitation of the revolution 

 of the sun, in his diurr.al -course, visiting all parts of the 

 earth ; and perhaps its visit to Ethiopia may allude to the 

 winter season. The disorders raised by Typhon, or the 

 ^-god of f/rtrA"7/(°6'5', may represent the evils of night or of 

 winter. I 



■Osiris w^as undoubtedly a primitive title of the sun, the 

 object of worship among most ancient nations. The 

 lyord, Parkhurst supposes, to be formed from the He- 

 brew ins to enrich. But, in this, as in a multitude of 

 tther cases, Flebriciaus haA^e inverted the order of deri- 

 vation ; for in Hebrew, as well as in Arabic and Ethio- 

 pic, this verb is formed from the same v/ord, signifying 

 (ten, and the verb signifies to give tenths^ and thus to en- 

 srich. In the sense oit-en, this word is probably formed 

 on the root "i-% to measure, or regulate, from the peculiar 

 properties of that number. 



The real origin of the name is in lu'. to regulate, rule, 

 ^direct, as the sun is th€ regulator of time. Or, more 

 probably, in i"i, brightness, splendor, to shine ; whence 

 •>our English sear. This word is also the root of Sirius, 



* See the Lexicons of the Irish Celtic, Lhuyd's Archaeologia, and 

 .Focaloir, before cited. 



t Faber, vol. i. 1 5 1 , and vol. ii. 77. 



t Sec Herod. Euterpe. 144 — and the.authorities cited byLem- 



;f>rierc, u;)dcr Osiris. 



