 The gods ' actions in the present are described and praised in hymns and funerary texts . In contrast , mythology mainly concerns the gods ' actions during a vaguely imagined past in which the gods were present on earth and interacted directly with humans . The events of this past time set the pattern for the events of the present . Periodic occurrences were tied to events in the mythic past ; the succession of each new pharaoh , for instance , <unk> Horus ' accession to the throne of his father Osiris . Myths are metaphors for the gods ' actions , which humans cannot fully understand . They contain seemingly contradictory ideas , each expressing a particular perspective on divine events . The contradictions in myth are part of the Egyptians ' many @-@ <unk> approach to religious belief — what Henri Frankfort called a " multiplicity of approaches " to understanding the gods . 
