Curiosities & wonders > History of the heathen gods and heroes of antiquity, very necessary for understanding the writings of the ancients, and the modern English poets

iS$ THE HISTORY OF
CHAP. XIII.
OSIRIS, APIS AND SERAPIS.
SIRIS, Apis and Serapis were three different n
names of one and the fame God. Ofiris, was s
the fon of Jupiter by Niobe, the daughter of Pho- o
roneus. After he had reigned many years over the x
Argives, being enflamed with a defire of glory, he : i|
left his kingdom to his brother iEgialus, and fail- 1
ed into Egypt, to fe.ek a new name and new do- -<
minions there.
That nation being not fo much overcome by his
arms, as obliged by his kindnefs and great favours, ,
he married lo, daughter of Inachus, whom Jupiter
had turned into a row, as was mentioned before, ,
but when (lie, driven by the furies, came to Egypt,
being reftored to her former drape, die was wedded
to Ofiris, and taught the Egyptian Letters; where- -
fore both die and her hulband obtained divine ho- ■
nours, and were efteemed immortal by that people.
But Ofiris diewed himfelf mortal, being killed by
his brother Typhon ; and being fought by his wife :
lo, otherwife called Ifis, was at lad: found in a l
ched, and laid in a monument, in an ifland near to <
Memphis, which the fad and fatal Stygian Lake
encompaffes. And becaufe die made ufe of the fa-
gacity of dogs, to find out the place in which he
was hid, henre they fay it happened, that, in the
foiemn procefiion of Ifis, which ufed yearly to be
celebrated, dogs went before, and the people wor-
diipped a god with a dog’s head, called Anubis, j
with religious ceremony. After the body of Cfiris :
w as committed to the grave, there appeared to the
Egyptians