Serapis
The Great God · The Saviour · Lord of All
Serapis in Egyptian tradition
A triple-headed Cerberus sits at the feet of Serapis, who appears in statues with long hair and a beard, seated on a throne like Pluto. He is the Greek form of Osiris-Apis, the combination of Osiris and Apis, the sacred bull worshipped at Memphis. The cult of Sarapis developed from the cult of Apis and was encouraged by the Hellenistic kings of Egypt.
Serapis belongs to the Egyptian Underworld and was identified by the Greeks with Hades. He was also regarded as a heaven-god, since the soul of the dead Apis bull was believed to rise to heaven and unite with Osiris. He was linked with the riches beneath the earth, and could cure diseases. In later development, he became a solar deity and a state god. His worship spread beyond Egypt, where he became the chief god of the Egyptian gods.
The quick answers
Who is Serapis?
Serapis is an Egyptian deity associated with the underworld and the dead, fertility and agricultural abundance, healing, salvation and protection, oracles and dreams.Source
Source
- Egyptian Mythology
- Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Resistance
- The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
What is Serapis the god of?
the underworld and the dead, fertility and agricultural abundance, healing, salvation and protection, oracles and dreamsSource
Source
- Egyptian Mythology
- Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Resistance
- The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
What family links are recorded for Serapis?
Spouse: Isis.
Serapis’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
with Isis
The names Serapis answers to
Sarapis
An alternate Greek spelling of Serapis
SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
Osiris-Apis
The Egyptian syncretic source-name combining Osiris and the Apis bull
SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
Osorapis
A Greek form of the Osiris-Apis name
SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
Aserapis
A Latinized variant of the deity’s name
SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
Serapis, and where the myths place it
Appears in
The myths across MythSource where Serapis features, each on that figure’s page.
- The Miraculous Birth and Finding of Apis · on Apis
- Belus and Anchinoe · on Belus
- The Dioscuri Rescue Helen · on Castor and Pollux
- Pirithous and Theseus Abduct Helen · on Pirithous
1 work catalogued
This is the candidate catalogue for Serapis: candidate reworks first, then references, then names used as atmosphere. Nothing here has been checked against a source yet. Only reviewed myth-to-work links are promoted in Overview.
Showing 1 of 1 works.
Game1
- Serapis OnlineName only
These are catalogue candidates, not proof that every work retells this figure. Reviewed myth-to-work links appear in Overview.
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
2 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Serapis. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/serapis
"Serapis." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/serapis.
"Serapis." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/serapis.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Serapis embeds here once it publishes.