By: John Lawlor

Set in Modern Context

Also called: Set

Setekh Suty

Also called: Seth Setesh Sutekh God of Chaos

Names of Set

In the Mythological stories, Set is shown to be the antagonist.

In “The Treachery of Set,” Set tricks his brother into a box and seals it shut and smothers him. He then throws the body into a river to hide it and become king himself.

In “The Wanderings of Isis,” Set tries to find and kill Isis and her son, who is the rightful heir to the throne.

In these stories Set is shown to be the “bad guy.”

Presentation Through Literature

In Egyptian culture, Set is presented as a betrayer and as a murderer. He is an evil god; this is shown through him being the god of the desert, storms, and foreigners. These are all things that would have brought danger to the Egyptians. So he was portrayed to be feared and to be an enemy.

Set was also portrayed to have been greedy, selfish, and power hungry. These traits also brought the Egyptian people negative connotations about Set.

Presentation Through Culture

Set influenced the lives of all the Egyptian people by being their worst nightmare.

His presentation would warn the people not unlike propaganda.

He would teach the Egyptians to fear the desert, storms, and foreigners.

Influence

Set has many physical attributes. Some notable ones are his strength, ant-eater head and the staff. He also has pointy ears.

Some other attributes he has are his cunning, conniving intelligence. This is shown in the story where he tricks his brother into being mummified in a box full of lead so he could steal his throne.

Attributes

Set was a single-episode villain in the show Stargate SG1.

He is also a Yu-Gi-Oh He is also featured in Connan the

Adventurer. Neopets has a pet-pet that is called Seti

and looks like Set. He is a bad guy in an episode of Doctor

Who. He went by Sutekh.

Modern References

Set could be considered the main antagonist of Egyptian mythology. He was always portrayed as being a bad guy, and betraying people, and being selfish.

In my opinion that is the reason he is brought back to be featured in modern TV shows, games, and stories. It is because he is a natural enemy, being the god of chaos, he fits in pretty well as the bad guy in any story, regardless of age. He was told in stories in ancient Egypt and he will be told of for generations to come. He is the Egyptian god of chaos and will fit in for times to come.

Why was he brought back?

"Egyptian Influence in Popular Culture." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 08 June 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2013

"Set (mythology)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.

Bibliography