The story begins during Seth’s reign of terror after his murder of Osiris, and it is mostly a free adaptation of the Egyptian tale The Contendings of Horus and Seth. In the first season of the comic, after Isis manages to revive Osiris and raise her son Horus, the goddess presents Horus before the Ennead and Ra as the true ruler of Egypt. While Seth disregards her, claiming that Horus must be an illegitimate child, Osiris appears before the Ennead and confirms the truth. Seth still refuses to give up power, so Ma’at proposes a competition between uncle and nephew, which marks the beginning of an obsessive relationship between the two.

The comic re-adapts some of the trials that are described in the Egyptian tale, such as the boat race, their underwater fight (although in the comic they don’t transform into hippopotamus), as well as Seth’s attempt to sexually subdue Horus. Unlike the original tale, in which actually Seth manages to assault Horus, in the comic Horus rapes Seth. The second season involves Seth being punished for his acts by becoming a demigod and being exiled; the gods also have to deal with the havoc provoked by the Followers of Seth, as well as the attempts by Ra (imagined here as female) to rule Egypt through her daughter Hathor.

All characters in Ennead are depicted as human, but some zoomorphic gods such as Horus and Seth are depicted wearing masks that represent their original animal forms, with the mask being a mark of godhood. Whereas some gods are depicted in a similar way to how they were depicted in Ancient Egypt (e.g., Osiris has green-coloured skin and wears the atef crown, Ma’at wears her feather as headdress, and Nut’s design include blue-coloured skin and a body filled with stars), some liberties are also taken: Ra is depicted as a sexualized woman with little to no clothes, and Thoth is depicted with lighter skin, long white hair and completely human traits. In addition, some characters are not considered to be gods in the beginning, such as Horus and Anubis, whereas other gods can be downgraded to demigods, such as Seth himself.

Power dynamics and relationships between characters in Ennead also differ from the original tale: Horus, Osiris and even secondary characters frequently sexually subdue Seth throughout the series. Osiris is depicted as the main antagonist in the series and Horus as Seth’s main ally. Furthermore, whereas both Osiris and Ra are above the rest of the gods, the comic illustrates that Sekhmet, goddess of destruction, is one of the reasons behind dynastic struggle, who manipulates Seth from the beginning to cause strife. However, some allusions to original Egyptian mythology are included in the tale, such as Thoth and Ma’at being spouses, Seth’s infertility, or Hathor’s (one-sided) love towards Horus.

Seth’s tale and personality is re-adapted to make him both misunderstood and sympathetic to the reader: he is constantly sexually mistreated by Osiris, Horus or other characters; he was cursed by Isis; and was also blackmailed and manipulated by Osiris into submission in exchange for the life of his son Anubis. For that reason, Seth decided to murder Osiris. Finally, some other Egyptian elements are featured in the comic, such as the underworld Duat, the Trial of Ma’at, mentions of the ka and ba and Egyptian weapons and attributes such as the khepesh sword or the was scepter. Ancient Egyptian locations, such as Heliopolis, Khemmis or Hermopolis, do also appear.

Author: Esperanza Macarena Ródenas Perea