Plutarch and Isis of the aretalogies

Abstract

Plutarch's religious philosophy is deeply permeated by the concept of the right relationship between man and God, and the right knowledge that can be acquired about the gods. His late work De Iside et Osiride, is also written in this spirit, with the only difference that here he examines not Greek but Egyptian gods and their myths, and does so within the framework laid down by Platonic philosophy. However, his position on Isis and Osiris also includes elements that in many respects can be compared to the reasoning of the hymnic genre known since the Hellenistic era, the so-called Isis-aretalogies. The study compares Plutarch's opinion on the right knowledge of God, which appears in several of his writings and is here seen through Egyptian religious filters, with the perspective and possible theological message of the aretalogies presenting the cosmic-natural power of Isis.