Note 474 — Chapter IV · Egypt

II. 151–2. Mallet, Prem. Étab. p. 38, cautiously quotes the Horus myth as a parallel for this flight. Nobody now would agree with Sayce (cp. Wiedemann, Aeg. Ges. p. 608) that “the story of Psammetichus’ retreat in the marshes is clearly (sic) borrowed from the myth of Horus.” It is far more likely that the story of Horus borrowed from the life of some early Egyptian ruler. Psamtek’s flight to the marshes is as natural and well attested as that of Alfred or of Hereward, the latter of whom is suspiciously like Horus in name as well as in behaviour.