Essay: The Trickster, the Hero, and the Fool

Unlike last week, there wasn't one specific motif or topic that necessarily stuck out in Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories, but rather a whole bunch of them. Each story within the unit had a different focus, but I decided to stick with The Secret Name of Ra. The storyline features a blatant trickster and fool; however, it also features a hero. The ironic thing is, the trickster and the hero are the same person.

Early on the story, the reader learns that Isis has developed a plan to trick Ra into releasing his "secret name" and in doing so, also will release his power to her. This is the first sign of trickery, and the entire story ends up focusing on how Isis completes her task. The fool, then, becomes Ra. Although he falls victim of Isis's serpent from the beginning, he stays strong, even if only for a little while, and doesn't give into Isis's requests. However, in the end, Isis is able to convince him to give up the secret name. In doing so, Isis, ironically, becomes the hero. Ra is struggling from extreme pain from the serpent bite, and Isis offers her healing powers, only if Ra will give up the name. Although the typical definition of a hero in literature tends to be "the one who does the right thing for the greater good," it is hard to discount Isis. She is not necessarily the "hero" that everyone hopes for, of course, because even though she saved Ra from dying (which seems like the "heroic" thing to do), the audience should remember that she is one who put him in that situation in the first place. So, although her acts "appear" heroic near the end, she is still the trickster of the story. Without her, he would have never been bitten by the snake in the first place, and he would have also not been tricked into revealing his secret name.

(Statue of Isis on display at the Louvre)