The Myths of Heracles and Busiris:

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The Myths of Heracles and Busiris The Geography,
Ethnography and Art of Human Sacrifice
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Your tax dollars are being used to pay for
grade-school classes that teach our children that
CANNIBALISM, WIFE-SWAPPING and MURDER of infants
and the elderly are acceptable behavior.
The National Conservative Political Action
Committee
fundraising letter signed by Sen.
Jesse Helms
B. Keller. 2002. New York Times
(12 January) A15
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1. Greeks say many things without thinking. In
particular, there is this silly story mythos
that they tell about Heracles how he came to
Egypt and the Egyptians put garlands on his head
and led him in a sacrificial procession pompê
in order to sacrifice thuein him to Zeus how
he remained compliant for a while and how, when
they brought him near the altar itself during the
initial rites katarkhesthai, he killed them all
in a display of his might. In my opinion, telling
these tales shows that Greeks are completely
ignorant about the nature physis of the
Egyptians and their customs nomoi. For them the
sacrifice of flocks and herds is unholyexcept
for pigs, bulls and bull-calves (unblemished
ones), and geeseso how could they sacrifice
thuein human beings? And furthermore, since
Heracles was one man and a mere mortal, as they
themselves say, how can it accord with nature
physis that he should kill many thousands? That
is all I have to saymay both the gods and heroes
view me kindly!
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2. After Libya Heracles went to Egypt, then ruled
by Busiris, a son of Poseidon and Lysianassa,
daughter of Epaphus. This Busiris used to
sacrifice foreigners xenoi thuein on an altar
of (Ammonian) Zeus in accordance with a certain
oracle. Egypt had suffered through famine for
nine years when a learned seer from Cyprus,
Phrasius, said that the drought would end if they
slaughtered sphazein a foreign man xenos
andros every year in honor of Zeus. Busiris
began by slaughtering the seer himself and
continued to slaughter the foreigners who
arrived. So Hercules, too, was apprehended and
brought to the altars, but he burst his fetters
and killed both Busiris and his son Amphidamas.
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