MYTHOLOGY AND

FOLKLORE
Reflection about the Movie “God’s of Egypt” in

comparison to Egyptian Mythology

Prepared By: Lapuz Jemima Maureen S.

Year and Section: BSED English 3A

October 2023
 God’s of the Egypt is one of the movies that shows the belief and culture of the Ancient

Egypt and it was derived from the Egyptian Mythology, but most of the scene in the movie was

perhaps the movie adaptation of the contending of Horus and Set.

In the movie directed by Alex Poryas “God’s of Egypt” we can see how well the actors and

actresses played their role very well, however, there are some information that somehow

contradicts what the original story has, one of these will be the coronation of Horus, in the movie,

it was depicted there that Osiris had ruled Egypt for 1000 years and was finally be stepping down

from the throne and give it to his son Horus the falcon god however in the midst of the coronation

Set the god of disorder came, with his plan of having rebellion against Osiris and Horus (God’s of

Egypt, 2016,9:09). On the other hand, it somehow contradicts, what really happens on the myth,

according to Maydana (2022), it took 80 years of battle with Seth before Horus was able to ascend

to his father’s throne, and they give emphasize to the different challenges that they have competed

such as the challenge of turning themselves into a hippopotami and whoever will hold their breath

the longest will win, basically it has been followed by other challenges in which, Seth did not play

fair.

Also, it was shown in the movie, how Seth gouged the eyes of Horus during the battle,

which result for Horus to be blind, and Bek, the mortal is the one who helped Horus to get his sight

back (God’s of Egypt, 2016,17:18).

In contrast to the account stating, Seth gouged the eyes of his nephew and buried them on the

ground and overnight they grew into lotuses; in this account Hathor the goddess of love, have

pitied Horus and pour a gazelle milk on his wounds and restore his sight.
Furthermore, they have depicted Apep or Apophis in the movie as more like a sandworm instead

of serpent which can be seen when Horus visited Ra the sun god (God’s of Egypt,2016, 43:18).

Conversely, in the ancient Egypt, Apep or Apophis is depicted as a serpent and the duel between

Ra and Apophis is in the underworld.

Additionally, in the concept of Ma’at which means the balance and order that the ancient Egypt

believe, the movie emphasize that in order for them to enter the Afterlife or the Field of Reeds,

instead of using their heart to be weight against the feather of Ma’at, they have instead used the

wealth of the deceased to be weight against the feather of Ma’at, if their offer is heavier than the

feather, they will have the opportunity to enter the afterlife, and if not, the deceased will be dissolve

in the darkness, one thing also that I have notice in this movie, some of the information are not

well arrange based on their chronological order, they have instead used flashback, to insert some

information such as How Set chopped down his brother Osiris into 14 pieces and adding more

twist such as Seth killing his wife Nepthys and having an affair with the goddess of love Hathor.

Lastly, instead of depicting the gods with their half animal and half human form they have instead

portray them as a human who will later transform in their half human and half animal form in the

battle.

To conclude this reflection, God’s of the Egypt was a great movie that depicts or has some elements

of the Egyptian Mythology, but somehow, it simplifies and distort the complex belief of the

Ancient Egypt prioritizing the action and the interest of the audience instead of choosing the

cultural authenticity of the story or the movie itself. This movie may be seen as a work of fiction

rather than an accurate representation of the belief and tradition of the Egyptian Mythology.
References:

Maydana, S. (2023). The Contendings of Horus and Seth: Clash of the Egyptian Titans.

TheCollector. https://www.thecollector.com/contendings-horus-and-seth-egyptian-titans

Wright, W. (2021). Horus vs. Seth: Homosexuality, Hippos and Familial Violence. The Not so

Innocents Abroad. https://www.thenotsoinnocentsabroad.com/blog/horus-vs-seth-

homosexuality-hippos-and-familial-violence