Similarities Between Indian Mythology and Greek Mythology

Mythology plays a significant role in comprehending justice, democracy, and human emotions. The reason behind having several similarities between every mythology is because they represent humans – but through gods and goddesses. In this article, we are going to read about similarities between Indian mythology and Greek Mythology. We are going to see how Zeus or Dionysus of Greek Mythology is similar to Indra or Shiva of Indian or Hindu Mythology and more.

Shiva – Dionysus

Lord Shiva of Indian mythology and Dionysus of Greek mythology are often considered to be similar because they are associated with madness and intoxication which can both create and destroy. Dionysus is the god of wine and fertility. Wine can, on one hand, spread ecstasy and on the other hand, it can be the cause of destruction and rage. Shiva is referred to as the destroyer but on the other hand, he is such a husband who after Parvati’s death went mad and was roaming around with her dead body because he could not move past the fact that his wife is no more.

Jatayu and Sampati – Icarus and Daedalus

The story of Icarus is probably one of the most told stories when we talk about mythology. Just like Icarus and Daedalus, there is a parallel story in Indian mythology which involves Jatayu and Sampati. One day while both of them were flying, Jatayu went close to the sun, so to protect Jatayu, Sampati went after him. He was successful in protecting Jatayu but due to the act, he burnt his wings and fell straight to the ground just like Greek God Icarus.

Ramayana – Iliad

On several occasions, scholars have tried to find a connection between the Greek epic Iliad and the Indian epic Ramayana – in particular between the search of Sita and the Trojan War. Although the major dissimilarity between these two is that in Iliad Helen fell in love with Paris and eloped, this became the base of starting a war. But, in Ramayana, the reason for the battle was the abduction of Sita done by Ravana. Despite that aspect, the reason why scholars and researchers believe there to be a certain similarity is that Indian mythology or movies are known for a happy ending at the end. But in Ramayana, even though they got their power, they were not necessarily ecstatic about the victory – which raises the doubt if one was in any way inspired by the other.

Narada – Hermes

Both of these gods of Indian and Greek Mythology act as messengers. They are also the sons of the two most powerful Gods. Their character traits are also alike to each other – they are both cunning and shrewd at certain times. They are known for being tricky and misleading people with their words.

Krishna – Heracles

In the account of Greek ambassador and historian Megasthenes, Lord Krishna is addressed as the half-god of Greek mythology, Heracles. If we decipher the name Heracles then it is ‘Hari-kula-es’ which means the clan of Hari which directly connects it with the clan of Krishna because Krishna is Hari. The similarities between them are certainly by accident but again, hard to ignore. The image of Lord Krishna fighting with a serpent named Kaliya can become a parallel with the image of Heracles fighting the serpents with several heads named Hydra.

Indra – Zeus

The resemblance between Indra and Zeus is uncanny because not only are both of them are King of Gods in their mythologies but they possess almost the same weapon as well. Even their abode is quite similar as Indra stays at Mount Meru and Zeus stays at Mount Olympus. Their character traits are not dissimilar from each other.

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