Isis - Isis in Greco-Roman Literature

Isis in Greco-Roman Literature

Plutarch, a Greek scholar who lived from 46 CE to 120 CE, wrote Isis and Osiris, which is considered a main source about the very late myths about Isis. In it he writes of Isis, describing her as: "a goddess exceptionally wise and a lover of wisdom, to whom, as her name at least seems to indicate, knowledge and understanding are in the highest degree appropriate..." and that the statue of Athena (Plutarch says "whom they believe to be Isis") in Sais carried the inscription "I am all that has been, and is, and shall be, and my robe no mortal has yet uncovered." At Sais, however, the patron goddess of the ancient cult was Neith, many of whose traits had begun to be attributed to Isis during the Greek occupation.

The Roman writer Apuleius recorded aspects of the cult of Isis in the 2nd century CE in his book The Golden Ass. He describes the Navigium Isidis festival. The following paragraph is particularly significant:

You see me here, Lucius, in answer to your prayer. I am nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen of the ocean, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are, my nod governs the shining heights of Heavens, the wholesome sea breezes. Though I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names ... some know me as Juno, some as Bellona ... the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning and worship call me by my true name...Queen Isis.