Comparison of Greek and Hindu Gods and Important Characters
Source:
As I have mentioned in my earlier posts, I first added more information in Wikipedia. Later on learning that it could be deleted, I copied the existing matter including my additions and improved it here.
There are many similar aspects in the mythologies of Hinduism and Greek mythology. The concept of many Gods and idol worship are quite similar in Hinduism and Greek religion. To exemplify, both these ancient cultures worshiped the images and idols of Gods, made temples in their honor and practiced Fire worship. They paid homage to Deities too.
Some of the Egyptian Gods were considered to be Gods of Greeks later like Thoth as Hermes.
Since this is a Comparison I have not added all Gods. Especially as the Norse and Egyptian Gods are quite different, I could quote only a few.
For Greek Myth, I have some times quoted Holmer and Heseud, who both have contradictions.
Similarly, Hindu Myth, has so many different meanings and versions, that Only a few can be quoted. There are chances of Contradictions and reason for Debate.
If while reading, or lack of time but interest to read or if interested, please click follow, so that when I update, you can come back and read.
Supreme Gods
The three elder or "Supreme" gods of Hinduism are Brahma (The Creator), Vishnu ( The Protector and Preserver) and Maheshwara also known as Shiva (The Destroyer of evil forces and the Transformer).
The Supreme gods of Greek mythology are Zeus ( The Lord of the skies) , Poseidon ( The Lord of the Seas) and Hades (The Lord of the Underworld). The youngest of the Greek brothers is Zeus.
The Supreme gods of Norse mythology is Odin. His brothers Vili and Ve helped him kill Yemir but are not seen in further stories.
Zeus, Indra and Thor
Similarities:
Zeus, the King of the Greek Gods can fairly be compared to Indra, the Rig-Vedic King of Hindu Gods. Both these deities had control over weather and had thunderbolts as their weapons. They both had kingly chariots. Like the dwelling place of Zeus and other Olympian Gods, Mount Olympus, the dwelling place of the Hindu Gods was in Swarga located high above in the sky on Mount Meru.
Thor was the God of thunder.
Baal was considered as god of Storm and had various weapons including the Thunder Bolt.
Dissimilarities:
Indra's reputation is the king of the Devas. He rides on a white elephant Iravata.
Zeus, the final and Supreme God of the Greek mythology.
Thor was Son of Odin Chief God. He drove around clouds by a chariot driven by two Goats. Thor's weapon was a hammer Mjolnir which produced lightning and thunder.
Odin, the supreme Norse God went around on a eight legged horse.
Hera and Lakshmi
Similarities:
Hera and Lakshmi are also similar to an extent, since both of them are the Goddesses of Home and Wealth and Prosperity.
Dissimilarities:
Lakshmi is not only the Goddess of Wealth, but she is the Goddess of preservation too. Taking a deep look into the Vedas, we visualize that Lakshmi is, the protecting power of Lord Narayana (Vishnu). She was the daughter of God of Ocean.
Freyja was daughter of Njord Norse God of Sea
Athena and Saraswati
Similarities:
Both Athena and Saraswati are the Goddesses of Wisdom and Learning. They are also the Goddesses of Culture and knowledge, which a man may acquire throughout during his life.
Dissimilarities:
In addition to being the Goddess of learning, Athena is also the Goddess of war. But instead, Saraswati is the Goddess of creation since she is the creative energy of Lord Brahma (the Creator). Athena is often seen to carry shield and other weapons, whereas Goddess Saraswati carries a Lotus flower (as a symbol of enrichment), the musical instrument Veena (as a symbol of culture), Rudraksha (as a symbol of homage to the Supreme Lord Shiva) and she also blesses devotees with another hand.
Apolo and Surya
Similarities:
Aditya/Surya and Appolo are much similar. Apollo's daily tasks is to harness his chariot with four horses and drive the Sun across the sky. While Surya is Sun himself, who is driven in a chariot driven by seven horses representing seven colors of the Rainbow.
Re or Atum was considered the Egyptian Sun God. He travels in a ship across the sky and had to fight monsters before returning every morning.
Dissimilarities:
Appolo is the god of music, playing a golden lyre. The Archer, far shooting with a silver bow. The god of healing who taught man medicine. The god of light. The god of truth, who can not speak a lie. Surya has hair and arms of gold. He presides over Sunday. Surya is notably mentioned as the visible form of God that one can see every day. Note that Helios was the greek sun god. He may be thought of as a personification of the sun.
Hades and Yama
Similarities:
Hades is the Lord of the underworld, and Yama is also the same in Hindu Mythology. Both these Gods are associated with Death and afterlife.
Hel was daughter of Loki and ruled Underworld.
Sometime Anubis and sometimes Osiris are considered to be God of the Dead.
Dissimilarities:
Yama's realm is the Naraka, which is said to be in another dimension. But the realm of Hades is said to be below the earth, that is in underworld. In addition to being the Lord of the Souls, Yama is also the final judge of the human souls. His role as a judge can be equated to that of Osiris. Yama is only the ruler of death and afterlife to ordinary people. All others will continuously remain in Samsara. They will be reborn. Hades takes the souls of all to the underworld. Yama takes the souls of ordinary people to their next body/life.
Poseidon and Varuna
Similarities:
Both Poseidon and Varuna are the Gods of ocean. They are the protectors of aquatic creatures.
Aegir is the Norse God of Oceans, while Njord was the Norse god of Sea.
Nun, the Egyptian God is considered as primordial water.
Dissimilarities:
Poseidon carries the Golden Trident as his weapon, whereas Varuna carries the Pash (the weapon which is the combination of an arrow and a trident). Further, Varuna is also the God of water, but the Greek God of water is the Titan Oceaneus.
Hephaistos and Vishwakarma
Similarities:
Both Hephaistos and Vishwakarma are the worker Gods, who design and make weapons for the Gods and manufacture tools.
Dwarfs were the builders and makers of weapons for the Norse Gods.
Dissimilarities:
Hephaistos is said to have a central workshop or factory, whereas there is no such concept for Vishwakarma (It will be hard to agree that Vishwakarma does not have factory or central workshop). Further, the mascot of Vishwakarma is elephant, but Hephaistos has no such mascot to carry him. Vishwakarma is God of tools and factories. Even to this day, during Vishwakarma Puja, people pray at factories and in their workshop; so, this would rather be counted as a similarity rather than a difference.
Ares and Kartika
Similarities:
Ares and Kartik are both the Gods of war and fighting. They both are depicted as warriors, carrying weapons as a sign of inspiration.
Dissimilarities:
Kartik is said to have peacock as his mascot and he also has six heads, unlike Ares, who has no mascot and single head (or face).Also Kartik personality is closer with Athena where they both represent tactical and strategical part of warfare while Ares represents blood lust.
Kronos and Mahakala
Similarities:
Both these Gods are the Gods of time and space.
Dissimilarities:
Kronos has a definite figure, whereas Mahakala is not said to have one, since he is the one, who is invisible to all and controls everything.
Hermes and Narada
Similarities:
Hermes and Narada are both messengers. While Hermes son of Zeus is considered to be messenger to all the other gods, Narada son of Brahma and a devotee of Narayana is a hermit and is often seen as carrying important news from one place to another, thus causing mischief, and some times triggering important things to happen.
Hermod was the messenger god in Norse mythology.
Dissimilarities:
Hermes wears winged sandals, a winged hat, and carries a magic wand while Narada carries a Tanpura a musical instrument and sings about Narayana.
Hermod carries a magical staff called Gambantien.
Eros and Kāmadeva
Similarities:
Eros is the god of love. So is Kāmadeva/Manmatha.
Dissimilarities:
Eros is often represented blindfolded because, love is often blind. His "weapon" is darts or arrows. In either case the tips have been magically treated to produce either uncontrollable love or insurmountable disinterest in the first person seen by Eros's victim after wounding. Kāmadeva is represented as a young, handsome winged man who wields a bow and arrows. His bow is made of sugarcane with a string of honeybees, and his arrows are decorated with five kinds of fragrant flowers. The five flowers are Ashoka tree flowers, white and blue lotus flowers, Mallika tree(Jasmine) and Mango tree flowers.
Graces and Apsaras
The daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, known as [Graces]: Aglaia (Splendor), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Good Cheer). The are known for singing and dancing for the gods. Apsaras Rambha, Urvasi, Menaka are known for singing and dancing for the Devatas.
Muses and Gandharvas
Muses are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. They are known for the music of their song, which brings joy to any who hear it. There are nine Muses, each with her own specialty: Clio (History), Urania (Astronmy), Melpomene (Tragedy), Thalia (Comedy), Terpsichore (Dance), Calliope (Epic Poetry), Erato (Love Poetry), Polyhymnia (Songs to the Gods), Euterpe (Lyric Poetry) [Gandharvas] are male nature spirits, husbands of the Apsaras. Some are part animal, usually a bird or horse. They have superb musical skills. They make beautiful music for the gods in their palaces. A gandharva means a singer in the court of Devatas.
Loki and Seth
Loki (Norse) is a son of Giant, but was raised in Asgard (Home of Aesir Norse Gods). He was very mischievous and later turned evil.
Seth (Egypt) is brother of Osiris, and plotted to kill Osiris. Seth is God of Chaos.
Gaya and Bhu Devi
Gaya in Greek myth and Bhu Devi or Bhumi Devi in Hindu Myth represent Mother Earth.
Gods and their Consorts
In Greek Myth:
Uranus and Gaya give birth to Titans after Kronos castrates Uranus. As a result Aphrodite is born.
Kronos marries his sister Rhea and the Olympians are born after Zeus defeats Kronos.
Zeus marries Hera his sister.
Similarly in Egypt Myth and the lineage of the kings, Brother and Sister marry.
In Hindu Myth, brother and sister do not marry. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are Brothers in law.
Shiva and Saraswati were fair and brothers and sisters. Brahma married Saraswati.
Narayana and Narayani were dark and were brother and sisters. Shiva married Narayani.
Children of God
Men (Affairs of Immortals and Mortals)
Zeus had various affairs with Women and gave birth to heroes. Similarly, Poseidon and Hades also led to birth of heroes. These were called Half Bloods.
In Indian mythology, primarily Indra and sometimes Agni and Vayu played roles in birth of children. These played role in helping an avatar of Vishnu (as Vanaras to Rama in Ramayana and as Pandavas with Krishna in Mahabharata)
Gods (Affairs of Immortals and Mortals)
Son of Uranus and Gaya were the Titans. Son of Kronos was Zeus and others.
- Son of Zeus and Hera were Ares.
- Daughter of Zeus Athena
These were Immortals.
In Indian mythology,
- Son of Parvathi, Ganesh (made of turmeric),
- Son of Shiva and Parvathi, Karthik
- Son of Brahma, Narada
- Son of Vishnu, Kamdev
