Mythology is defined as the study as well as interpretation of various sacred tales or a collection of such stories which deal with various facets of the human condition – good and evil, cultural values, traditions, the origin of humans, the meaning of life and death, the afterlife, gods and goddesses. Myths express certain culture’s ideas and beliefs through these subjects. Mythology has played an integral part in every civilization throughout the world.

Comparative Mythology is a comparison of myths from diverse cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics. Comparative Mythology has also served in a variety of academic purpose. Different scholars have used the relationships between various myths to trace the development of religions and cultures to find out a common origin for myths from a different culture.

C. Scott Littleton, an anthropologist defined comparative mythology as “the systematic comparison of myths and mythic themes drawn from a wide variety of cultures”. Scholars try to identify underlying similarities and to reconstruct a protomythology from which mythologies develop by comparing different culture’s mythology. All theories about mythology follow a comparative approach; Robert Segal says “by definition, all theorists of myth pursue similarities among myths”. Scholars of mythology can be divided into:

Particularists – who emphasize the difference between myths. Comparativists – who emphasize the similarities among myths.

Interpretatio Graeca is an early form of comparative mythology which is the use of Greek name for gods of other people. Thus, Greek authors interpreted New Eastern storm gods as Zeus who shared vital features with them. Likewise, Roman authors identify Celtic or Germanic gods as Jupiter, Mars or Mercury. Such identifications, employing interpretation Romana, are readily apparent in the English and French names of the days of the week; the English names are derived from the Germanic gods, the French from the Roman: thus Tuesday, Týr’s (or Tiu’s) day, corresponds to Mardi, day of Mars; Wednesday, Woden’s day, corresponds to Mercredi, day of Mercury; and Thursday, Thor’s day, corresponds to Jeudi, day of Jupiter.

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The technical term comparative mythology by German-born British philologist F. Max Muller in 1856. He based his argument on the observation that the Indo – European languages were associated with each other and evidently should be derived from one common language. According to Muller myths originated through literal interpretations of metamorphic expressions leading to a personification of such natural phenomena like the sun and the dawn, it would be useful to compare not only the languages but also the myths of Indo – European peoples. However, he made little observations on the comparison of divine names in various religions; he was more or less concerned in contending evolutionistic interpretations of mythology based on material from “primitive” peoples.

There are three possible theories when two or more myths are parallel in some respect.

They form a part of common heritage. Myth or mythological motif has spread from one religion to another Independent development has produced similar results in two or more different places.

Following the third theory, one might adopt one of two plausible explanations: either that similar ecological conditions produce similar myths or that the human mind comprises archetypes that are stated in similar symbols everywhere. Thus, an amalgamation of these two explanations should not be entirely ruled out.

Indo – European Religion:

Various Indo – European religion has a common heritage. A linguistic comparison of divine names reveals numerous fascinating facts. For example, the Vedic Dyaus is similar to the Greek Zeus, the Roman Jupiter, the Nordic Tyr, and the Latvian Dievs. The Baltic peoples have a god of the thunderstorm called Perkunas or Perkons which is similar to Indian rain god Parjanya. Yama is the first man, in Iran Yima, while Yimir in Nordic mythology is the giant from whose body the world was created. Indian and Iranian religions have a close relationship. The Iranian Mithra and the Indian God Mitra have very similar functions: Vedic Mythology uses Vitrahan in the epithet of Indra as the killer of the dragon Vrtra; in Iran, Verethraghna is the god of war and kingship. Sanskrit Deva means “god” but Iranian daiva is “demon”, Sanskrit asura means “demon” and Iranian ahura is the name of the highest god which indicates an early conflict between the two religions. Thus, the functions of gods with related names are not always identical.

The French Scholar Georges Dumezil suggested a different and promising approach to the comparative mythology of the Indo – European peoples. He stated the most Indo – European religions have a myth about the preparation of a drink of immortality, which was stolen and recovered and then became the object of ritual drinking. This resulted in the observation that behind the mythology of most of these peoples a tripartite structure could be detected.

The gods of the pantheon are organized in such a manner that they reflect the tripartite social structure of Indo – European society. There are the functions of rulership of warfare and fertility and wealth. The rulership function has two aspects: the mysterious and magical on one side and orderly and lawful on the other. This is represented by Jupiter and Dius Fidius in Rome, Odin, and Tyr in Scandinavia and Varuna and Mitra in India. The warfare function is represented by Roman Mars, Indian Indra, and Scandinavian Thor. The gods of the third function i.e. fertility were admitted to the circle of gods after the battle which completes the pantheon, the gods are – the twin Vedic gods Asvins or Nasatyas and the Nordic Vanir, whereas in Rome Quirinus, a lesser-known god was included in the circle. The Celtic evidence can be fit into the same pattern even if it’s flimsy. The same structure is reflected in the functions of the Zoroastrian “archangels”, the Amesha Spentas, which replace the old gods in Zoroastrian monotheism, and in the characters of the legendary kings of early Rome. Therefore Romulus represents the orderly ruler; Numa Pompilius, the priest, is the mysterious one; Tullus Hostilius is the warrior, and Ancus Marcius represents material welfare. Sabinians were also admitted into Roman society after war just like the gods of the third function and when the Roman community was complete. Thus in other words mythology has been transformed into legendary history.

There is an interesting fact regarding the Roman heroes in the wars against the Etruscans, Horatius Cocles is one-eyed and Gaius Mucius Scaevola loses his one hand. Nuadha, the Irish war god has a silver hand instead of the one he lost in the battle and Odin is one-eyed and Tyr has only one arm among the Nordic gods.

Also Read: The Cost Of Immortality

Due to the influence from pre- Greek Aegean religion the Greek Mythology has only a rare traces of this pattern. The Dumezils method is not based on philological evidence and thus is not open to criticism based on difficulties in establishing the exact relationship between the Indo – European languages. Whereas on the other hand there is difficulty in the aspect that the names of the gods of one particular function are not always linguistically related and related names may appear in different functions.

An observation has been made in similarities of various mythology of different parts of the world. Such as:

The origin of death – The myth of the origin of death is present in most parts of Africa. The most common of them is the idea that the man was originally intended to live forever. God sent a message to that effect, but the messenger was delayed and overtaken by another messenger who brought the message of death. Other myths report that the message was distorted so as to infer death instead of life. Other tribes say that man was offered two bundles: one containing life and one containing death; and the man chose death by mistake. There also myths that attribute death to the disobedience of man. In the last case, there is a Christian influence, but in other myths which occur in several tribes in several different versions are indigenous and provide a good example of how the outward form of a myth may vary even though the intention is same. The earth diver – Many myths of North American Indian tribe’s talk of a primeval sea: a bird or animal dives into the water and brings up some soil from which the earth is created. This myth is also known to many people in Northeast Asia. The ideal primeval sea is common among Babylonian and Israelite and to an extent Egyptian cosmogony. In some versions of North America earth diver myth, the motif is combined illogically with the myth of flood. According to a Samoyed myth, seven men who were saved from the flood sent a bird to the bottom of the sea to bring a turf to form the earth. This is an obvious combination of two elements of different origin. The flood – The flood myth is well known from the Bible and the ancient Mesopotamia. A study of the biblical and Mesopotamian versions reveal that they have several conspicuous details in; The secret of the flood is revealed to one righteous man by the god, he builds a ship, he sends out birds to see if the water has receded and he offers sacrifices after being saved; but the story has been modified to suit the context of a larger narrative into which it has been inserted – Gilgamesh epic, Atrahasis epic, the primeval history of Genesis. Flood stories are well known from various parts of the world.

Comparative study of mythology raises various difficult questions that are difficult to answer. Similar myths that appear in different parts of the world that seem to have no connection with one another – neither common heritage nor diffusion. Myths that are very much similar to the Greek myth of Orpheus who tried to bring his wife Eurydice back from the netherworld but failed to do so appear in several North American Indian tribes but no historical connection has been found. The Maori tribe of New Zealand have a creation myth according to which there were first darkness and water but the god lo pronounced a word and there was light, he pronounced a second word and there was a sky, and the third word was pronounced leading to the appearance of the earth. It would seem like the Christian ideas have influenced either the myth or the one who recorded it. Mircea Eliade says essential aspects of reality appear in the human mind as images and symbols forming certain patterns that meet a need and fulfill a function, that of revealing the hidden modalities of our existence.