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

are Immortals. 

Change in Mythology, Beginning of World, End of World, etc.

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.

Change of Mythology
Mythologies have changed by time and by devotion.
The Vikings were war loving people and had stories that those who died in war would go the Folkvang home of Freyja and Valhalla the hall of Odin.
The Norse mythology has Odin and other Gods known as the Aesir.
Odin was son of Buri the first God who died of old Age.
But the Aesir and the Vanir where at war.
When war ended Njord, Freye and Freja three members of older branch of Gods (Vanir) where sent to Aesir and Honir and Mimir (Gods of Aesir) where send to Vanir branch.

The Greek Mythology has that Zeus, and his brothers defeated the older gods Kronos, Atlas and other Titans and became the Gods.

The Hindu Mythology had various stories that influenced people to be just and good.
The Hindu Mythology had worshiped the main elements of the nature as the Devatas (Indra for thunder, Agni for fire, Varun for water, Vayu for wind, etc). Stars, planets, and Moon play an important role as well. Later the Devatas requested help Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva on several occasions.

Beginning of the Worlds

Norse Mythology

Before the dawn of time and before the world was created there was a place called Niflheim…

Niflheim was the mist world. It consisted of ice, frost and fog.
Far from Niflheim there was a place that was as hot as Niflheim was cold. It was the land of fire and was called Muspelheim.
Between Niflheim and Muspelheim there was a great void. 
This vast emptiness was called Ginnungagap.

Surt, the carrier of a flaming sword, was in charge of Niflheim the home of fire Giants.

Yimir, the first Jotun, a giant troll was born in void and Audhumla.
A cow was formed where the ice started to melt.
The cow licked a salty stone for three days and Buri the first Aesir God was born.
Yimir drank the cows milk and while he was asleep many Jotuns and Monsters.
Buri's son Bor had three sons with Bestla, a Jotun. They where Odin, Vili and Ve.
Odin, Vili and Ve killed Ymir as the Jotuns were outnumbering the Aesir.
Ymir's blood drowned all Jotuns except Bergelmir and his wife.

From Ymir's corpse a new world was created

The blood was transformed into oceans and water.

The flesh turned into land.

The bones formed the mountains.

The teeth made into rocks.

The hair became the grass and trees.

They threw the brain up in the air and it turned into clouds.

The skull became the sky. It was the lid that covered the new world.

The brothers caught some of the sparks shooting out from Muspelheim, the land of fire. They threw the sparks up towards the inside of the skull. These sparks shone at night and were to become the stars

Worms of Yemir's body became Dwarfs and four among them East, West, North and South where assigned to hold the sky.

Greek Mythology
The Greek Mythology has it that in the beginning there was only chaos. Then out of void appeared Erebus and Night. Some how Love was born and then Light and Day came from it. Gaea, the earth appeared.
Gaea gave birth to Uranus and he became her mate. They produced 3 Cyclopse, 3 Hecatoncheires and 12 Titans.
Uranus was a bad father and Gaea and Cronus her youngest son plotted to kill Uranus with a stone Sickle.
Cronus was the next ruler, married Rhea his sister, and out of fear of being overthrown, swallowed his children.
Rhea managed to save her sixth child Zeus and he returned to free his five siblings by giving Cronus a drink.
Atlas and other Titans fought with the younger gods. Zeus with the help of the Titan Prometheus and the lighting bolt from the Cyclopse and ambush by the Hecatoncheires defeated and exiled all Titans and punished Atlas to cary the world on his shoulder.
Angry, Gaea gave birth to last offspring Typhoeus but Zeus killed it with lightning bolts.
The Giants later challenged the Gods but where defeated with help of Hercules.
Prometheus is said to have made a model of mud and breathed life into it and called it Man. In a different occasion he tricked Zeus and an Angry Zeus sent a beautiful lady Pandora with a jar of problems to men.
In a different version, Zeus created Golden Men (the self sufficient happy kind), Silver Men, Bronze Men (those that killed each other in Battles) and Iron Men (the current age). This looks a lot like the Hindu Mythology.

Hindu Mythology
Since my knowledge for Norse and Greek Mythology is limited I could cover it in one post. But Hindu Mythology is a set of stories with morals to help man to follow and lead a good life.
It is difficult to cover all in one post.
I would describe in brief and point to other posts later.
Since this post is about Beginning of World let me stick to it now.
It is well known that Lord Sri Maha Vishnu took many Avatars (incarnations) to help Devatas and Mankind survive the troubles of the time.  The Avatars are in a pattern which closely resembles the pattern of how life, etc., evolved on earth.
Machya Avatar : The earth had huge oceans and Fish Symbolized it.
Kurma Avatar  : As the oceans started to dry the Tortosie Symbolized it.
Varaha Avatar : The lands where filled with swamps Boar symbolized it.
Narsimha Avatar: Forests grew in plenty and the king of Animals Lion Symbolized it.
The other Avatars Vamana Avatar (short brahmin priest), Parshurama (angry brahmin and killer of all cruel kings), Rama (an ideal king and an ideal son, killer of Rakshasas), Krishna (the battle for Dharma, truth and rights), Budha (the enlightened one) and Kalki (a future avatar of Vishnu riding a horse to destroy the evil on earth and restore the Golden Age).

Other extraordinary images at http://www.omshantiom.com.ar/puranas/vpimages.php

Also the time is divided into four periods (basically depicting loss of human virtues). These happen in one day in Brahma Loka.
Satya Yuga : The age of truth, Golden Age
Treta Yuga : Three quarters Virtue and one sin
Dwapara Yuga: Half Virtue and Half Sin
Kali Yuga   : One Quarter Virtue and rest Sin

Like a after day night comes and after night day, likewise the Yugas repeat themselves cyclically.

The earth's rotation on its axis is a day, and revolution around sun is a year. 
Some say the sun's (i.e. Solar System revolution) around the centre of galaxy (Vishnunabhi, seat of creative power Brahma). For more please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuga.
As earth's distance and inclination to sun causes changes in seasons, sun's distance from the centre (i.e. from Brahma) causes increase and decrease of Virtue.

End of the Worlds

Norse say Ragnorak is the last fight where all is lost, and most of the Gods including Odin and Thor die in battle, and then sons of Thor will rule.
Hindus believe that Kalki, the last avatar of Sri Maha Vishnu will destroy all evil and restore Golden Age on earth. Which means all will start afresh.

Hindu Mythology vs Greek and Norse Mythologies

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.

What is common in most Mythologies?
Most Mythologies are a set of stories which were told to express/define that group's opinions of how things started to happen or are happening.
Most of them started with worshipping different forces of Nature, categorizing them and evolving stories around them, adding names, characteristics, and adding evolved.
These variations could be tracked by inscriptions, paintings, etc on walls of old monuments like temples in India, Pyramids in Egypt, Books, Poems, Narration, etc.
These often change by the presiding rulers or priests who endorse them.
Many mythologies have similar characters with different powers and position.

Some common concepts:

Ways of Worship:

Most of the people in the old mythologies and even in some of the current world, built temples for there Gods. The Gods had human like appearances. 
The Hindus Gods had animals as vehicles like Lord Shiva had Nandi the Ox, Lord Vishnu has Garuda the eagle, etc.
The Egyptian Gods had animal like parts like Anubis had head of a Jackal. They were also associated with animals, birds, trees, etc..
There were priests who recited hymns or slokas in praise of the Gods.

Solar Eclipse & Lunar Eclipse:

The Hindu version of Solar Eclipse and Lunar Eclipse is that at that time the Surya (Sun) or the Chandra (Moon) are swallowed by a Rakshasa [Demon] named Rahu. They fight to get rid of the Demon. But since the Demon is immortal they come back to swallow them again.
The Chinese Myth says that a Red Dragon eats the Sun or the Moon and at this particular time they beat drums to scare the Dragon away.
The Norse Myth says Sol (Sun) and Mani (Moon) were persued by the wolf Skoll and Hati.
The Egyptians considered the Apep (a serpent) to eat the Re (Sun).
The amazing fact is that they all had calculations to predict the eclipses.

Heaven, Hell and Rebirth

Most mythologies mentioned about Heaven and Hell and Rebirth. Though the places described where different.

The Hindus belive that Svarga (Heaven) is the place where the righteous live in a paradise Naraka (Hell) is the place where the sinners are punished for their sins.
Chitragupta keeps an account of Punyas (good deeds) or Papas (sins/bad deeds) done by a person while 
Upon death Yama dootas come to extract a persons soul.
Yama is the Devata who decides weather a soul should go to Heaven or Hell based upon his/her account. The bad are punished in various ways.
Only on complete devotion towards the lord and on leading a righteous life can a person attain freedom from life cycle and merge in Brahma.

The Greeks have Mount Olympus as the home of the Gods and consider it Heaven. 
Hades is the ruler of Underworld.
Upon death Hermes leads the souls to the underworld.
Charon ferries the souls who can pay the fee (people must be buried with coins placed on lips)
Cherebus allows all to enter but none to leave.
Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus are the judges who pass sentence. The very good go to the Elysian Fields. Others are singled out for special treatment. Sisyphus and Tantalus being prime examples of the later.

According to egyptian mythology spirits of the dead go across the Nile into Duat the place of testing and then to Amenti for the good to live for ever. Tombs or Burial Chambers allowed the spirits to go back and forth from Duat.

Norse have Asgard as their territory while Bifrost (a colourful bridge) connected Midgard (Earth) the territory of Humans.
Valhalla the hall of Odin is the home for half of best slain warriors. Valkyries take them there.
The other half would be choosen by Freyja and would stay in Folkwang her home.
Ran wife of Aegir the god of Ocean would catch those who drowned in Ocean, and those who had gold would be allowed to have a happy afterlife at the bottom of Ocean.
Hel daughter of Loki was the ruler of Underworld.

Immortality of Gods

Norse Goddess Idun keeper of Golden Apples provides the Gods with these apples to reverse their ageing.
Kvasir mead is a drink that gave the gift of Poetry and Wisdom.
Hindu Gods drink Amrutha (nectar of life) and live for ever.

What is this about?

Comparison of various mythologies.

I do not wish to support or oppose any ones opinions about any religions, beliefs, etc.
These are simply my view. I would try to update this matter continuously with what ever matter is appropriate to this post.

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.

My other sources are 
http://www.egyptianmyths.net/
http://www.greekmythology.com/
http://www.norse-mythology.com/

Why do I write?
There are plenty of people who have done a lot of research and published there articles in various books or online.  Yet many have different scope.
This is another attempt to bring different understandings together.  Hope people will contribute to making this  much better.

What is my experience/knowledge?
Frankly my knowledge is limited. I have heard and learnt lot about Hinduism from my parents, people around me, books and movies.
My interest in other mythology like Greek, Norse, Egyptian was aroused by a "Age Of Mythology" a popular game by Microsoft.  After playing that game with dedication, I watched a few movies, cartoons, etc and wanted to know more.

What is my experience in writing?
Fairly less. I started looking for this information and while going through various sties I found quite a few interesting but not complete, and quite a few contradictory.
I went and added all of them in "Comparison of Greek and Hindu Gods". When I visited this later I found that "This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy." I do not remember if I had seen this earlier to adding more to it or ignored it.
But I would hate to loose all the analysis, as this was just a starting.

Before I get in deep, I would like to Quote a few definitions:
Religion: a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.
Mythology: a set of stories, traditions, or beliefs associated with a particular group or the history of an event, arising naturally or deliberately fostered.
Legend: A non historical or unverifiable story handed down by traditionfrom earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.The body of stories of this kind, especially as they relate to a particular people, group, or clan.

Tale: a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story.