The most famous miraculous birth of antiquity is undoubtedly the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, described in the Bible. However, this was far from the only miraculous birth recorded in ancient times. Even the Bible itself contains other examples. There are also records of miraculous births in various different cultures in the ancient world.
Ancient Egypt
One fairly well-known example of a miraculous birth outside the Bible comes from ancient Egypt. This was the birth of Horus, one of the most popular gods of the Egyptians. According to Egyptian myth, Osiris was an early king. His brother was Set.
For motives that are inconsistent across the different sources, Set conspired to kill Osiris. After killing him, he cut up his body and scattered the pieces all over Egypt. Osiris’ sister and consort, Isis, gathered the pieces together to form his body again.
With help from various deities, Isis was able to restore Osiris to life, although it seems that this was not permanent. During Osiris’ temporary resurrection, Isis had intercourse with him and became pregnant with Horus. According to some variants of the myth, she became pregnant after being struck by lightning.
Whatever the exact circumstances, which vary depending on the text, it is clear that Horus’ birth was miraculous.
Miraculous births in ancient Greece
Greek mythology is full of stories of miraculous births. The reason this is so common in Greek mythology is because there are many stories about gods having intercourse with humans. Perhaps the most famous example is the miraculous birth of Heracles (also known as Hercules).
Ostensibly, he was the son of Alcmena and Amphitryon. However, Amphitryon was not actually Heracles’ biological father. Zeus, the king of the gods, appeared to Alcmena in the guise of her husband and had relations with her. This miraculous conception and birth is what caused Heracles to be superhumanly strong, he was a demigod.
Another example of a miraculous birth in Greek mythology is that of Minos. He was the king of Crete. According to ancient Greek sources, Minos’ parents were Europa, a Phoenician princess, and Zeus.
Zeus transformed into a bull and mixed in with the cattle of Europa’s father. One day, he took the opportunity to kidnap Europa and take her to Greece. There, he fathered several children with her, including Minos.
Zeus’ affairs with human women is one of the main contributors to the presence of so many miraculous births in Greek mythology.
Alexander the Great
One notable example of a supposed miraculous birth from ancient Greece involves a historical figure. According to Plutarch, a Greek historian writing centuries after the events in question, there was a belief that the birth of Alexander the Great was miraculous.
The basis for this belief was as follows. Allegedly, Alexander’s mother Olympias had a strange dream on the night before her wedding to Philip. In this dream, her womb was struck by lightning. This caused a fire to spread far and wide before then dissipating.
According to some ancient interpretations, this meant that her son Alexander the Great was conceived by the god Zeus. This would make him, like Heracles before him, a demigod.
Augustus
The Roman emperor Augustus is also said to have had a miraculous birth. According to Suetonius, the Roman historian of the late first, early second century CE, Augustus’ mother Atia became pregnant one day when she was in a temple of Apollo.
According to this tradition, Atia went to the temple to worship. She then fell asleep. While she was sleeping, a serpent approached her and impregnated her. This was actually Apollo in the form of a serpent. Afterwards, Atia noticed serpent-like marks on her body.
Nine months later, Augustus was born. This logically meant that Augustus’ birth was miraculous, being the result of a union between Atia and the god Apollo in the form of a serpent.
Plato
Like Zeus, Apollo is responsible for multiple miraculous births in Greco-Roman tradition. Centuries before the time of Augustus, Plato was a prominent Greek philosopher. He lived in the fourth century BCE.
There are several ancient accounts that describe the miraculous birth of Plato. Supposedly, Plato’s human father Ariston tried to force himself on his wife Perictione, but she was unwilling to have relations with him. Then, the god Apollo appeared to Ariston in a vision to tell him to desist from bothering her.
Nine months later, Plato was born. The date of his birth, the seventh day of the month Thargelion, was the traditional birthdate of Apollo. Hence, it is evident that Apollo was the supposed father of Plato by Perictione.
Miraculous births in Hinduism
Just like Greek mythology, Hinduism has multiple stories of miraculous births. The god Vishnu is said to have came to earth in the form of various incarnations. One of these incarnations was Krishna. According to the ancient sources, Vishnu placed himself into the womb of the woman Devaki so as to be born as Krishna.
On another occasion, Vishnu appeared in the incarnation of Rama, placing himself into the womb of a woman named Kausalya.
As well as Vishnu, other Hindu gods were also said to have caused miraculous births. Surya is a notable example, being an important solar deity. The ancient sources claim that he miraculously impregnated a woman named Queen Kunti. Their son was Karna, a major character in the Mahabharata epic.
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