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But Eudoxus saith that, though there be in Egypt
many tombs reported to be his, yet his true body lies at
Busiris, for that was the place of his birth; neither can
there be any room for dispute about Taphosiris, for that its
very name bespeaks it, Osiris's tomb. I pass by their
cleaving of wood, their peeling of flax, and the wine libations then made by them, because many of their secret
mysteries are therein contained. And it is not of this
God only, but of all others also that are not ungotten and
incorruptible, that the priests pretend that their bodies lie
buried with them and are by them served, but their souls
are stars shining in heaven; and they say that the soul of
Isis is by the Greeks called the Dog, but by the Egyptians,
Sothis; and that of Horus, Orion; and that of Typhon, the
Bear. They also tell us, that towards the support of the
animals honored by them all others pay the proportion assigned them by the laws, but that those that inhabit the
country of Thebais are the only men that refuse to contribute any thing, because they believe in no mortal God, but
in him only whom they call Cneph, who is ungotten and
immortal.
Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 4.
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