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Seated atop Mount Olympus, Zeus made himself the ruler of the sky, watching over the earth, hurling thunderbolts from time to time. Poseidon declared himself the ruler of the sea and the rivers, occasionally causing earthquakes. Hades became the ruler of the underworld, claiming all those who died.

  Hestia, the elder sister of Zeus, became the goddess of the hearth; Demeter the goddess of life-giving grain; and Hera the goddess of the household.

  With roles so clearly defined, the Olympians celebrated by eating ambrosia and drinking nectar.

  The concept of three worlds is found in most mythologies. In the Vedas, there is talk of the earth, sky and the atmosphere in between. The Puranas speak of the earth (Bhu-loka), the paradise of the gods (Swarga-loka) and the subterranean realms of the asuras and nagas (Patala-loka). In the Bible, there is earth, Heaven and Hell.

  In Roman mythology, Zeus is known as Jupiter, Hades is called Pluto and Poseidon is Neptune.

  While the world is divided amongst the Olympian gods, it is clear there is no such thing as god of earth. Earth is a goddess linked to various female divinities like Gaia, Rhea and Demeter, even Hecate. With Demeter responsible for grain, Hestia for the hearth and Hera for the household, we see the rise of human culture, and the roles assigned to women.

  Just as the Olympians have a tense relationship with the Titans, Zeus has a tense relationship with Poseidon and Hades. Consumed by envy, Poseidon causes storms and earthquakes. Similarly envious, Hades does not let the dead return to the land of the living.

  Olympus serves as the central axis of the world, the Axis Mundi, like Mount Meru or Mount Kailasa in the Hindu Puranas.

  In Hindu mythology, Yama is the ruler of the dead. He is the first human to die without leaving behind an offspring and so is eternally trapped in the land of the dead, unlike Hades who chooses to be ruler of the land of the dead.

  Hades is considered rich, as he collects tax from the dead before letting them enter the land of the dead. Coins are placed on the eyes and mouth of the dead before cremating them. In Hindu funeral rituals too, coins are sometimes placed in the hands of the dead.

  Thanatos, the god of death, is different from Hades, the ruler of the dead, just as Mrityu, the goddess of death in Hindu mythology, needs to be distinguished from Yama, the ruler of the dead.

  Unlike Hindu mythology, where there is a paranoid fear of death, and hence a yearning for amrita, the nectar of immortality that the devas possess, Greek mythology shows no such obsession. Such yearning for immortality is found in Mesopotamian mythology too, in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Greek heroes, however, show no such craving. Immortality is reserved for the gods, mortality for humans. The Greek way of coping with the fear of death is to live an extraordinary life that would inspire bards to compose epics. The other way is to have children, an idea encouraged by Hindu dharma-shastras too.

  Iris and Arke

  There were two sisters, daughters of Titans, who spanned the three worlds, from the skies above through the seas below right down to the underworld of the dead. They were Iris and Arke. Both had wings, and they took the form of rainbows.

  During the war between the Titans and the Olympians, Arke sided with the Titans and Iris with the Olympians.

  When the war ended, Zeus tore off Arke’s wings and cast her into Tartarus, causing her rainbow to fade. That is why only one rainbow is seen in the sky. The winged Iris became the messenger of the gods, whispering in the ears of heroes, kings and queens, reminding them constantly never to upset the Olympians.

  In Hindu mythology, the rainbow is called Indra-dhanush, or the bow of Indra, the sky god.

  Narada, the sage who travels between the three worlds of Hindu mythology, is popular as the gossipmonger and instigator of quarrels.

  This clear divide between old and new gods, the rejection of the old and the celebration of the new, is absent in Hindu mythology. All Hindu gods intermingle and become part of the same system.

  Cybele

  Once, Zeus lay on a bed of grass. And while sleeping he spilt his semen on the grass. A strange creature sprang out: it had both male and female genitalia and called itself Agdistis. Unnerved by its form, the Olympians cut out its male genitals and turned the androgynous Agdistis into the goddess Cybele.

  The male genitals fell on the ground and turned into an almond tree. The daughter of a local river god ate the almonds and became pregnant and gave birth to a handsome man called Attis.

  When Attis was on his way to wed the princess of Phrygia, Cybele saw him and fell in love with him. Determined not to let him marry another woman, she drove him mad. At the wedding ceremony, Attis picked up a knife and castrated himself and died as a result of the bleeding.

  Cybele then restored Attis to life, and made him her consort.

  The idea of a sage or a god spilling semen on the earth and thereby fathering a child is a recurring theme in Hindu mythology as well. In the Mahabharata, Drona is born when his father spills his semen in a pot at the sight of a nymph.

  The Shiva Purana refers to Ardhanareshwara, God who is half-woman, evoking the primal androgynous being.

  The hijras of India often castrate themselves in the name of a rooster-riding goddess identified as Bahuchara Mata of Gujarat. Does this have anything to do with the Galli, the eunuch-priests of Cybele? We can only speculate.

  Cybele is linked to Gaia, Rhea, Demeter, Hecate, even the oracle. By making her a child of Zeus, this story makes her subservient to him.

  The cult of Cybele originated in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and spread through Greece to Rome where she came to be known as Magna Mater (the Great Mother). It is the ancient Mother Goddess cult.

  Information about Cybele comes from many sources. The earliest are Homeric hymns to the mother of gods. These hymns date back to the seventh century BCE and are attributed to Homer as they follow the same metre and style as his epics.

  In Goddess worship, the male is subservient, merely a seed-provider and protector. The female is sacred as she bears children, the next generation. Here fertility is power, indicating a time when humans were still at the mercy of the elements and not proficient in agriculture or animal breeding.

  The theme of men and women originating from a primal androgynous being is a common theme in many mythologies. In some translations, the first being created by the God of Abraham was Adam, who was androgynous, and who became male when Eve was pulled out of him.

  Graces and Muses

  Zeus lay with many women: Titan, Olympian, nymph, even mortal. On each, he fathered children, who were destined to be either gods or heroes.

  On Eurynome, Zeus fathered the three Graces, to fill the world with good cheer. These three women were often seen dancing naked around Aphrodite and Eros.

  On Mnemosyne, Zeus fathered the nine Muses, who inspired poets and artists and writers to compose works of art and music and theatre and stories to help people forget their miseries and feel joy and hope. Strange that the daughters of ‘memory’ would enable the production of artworks that helped people ‘forget’.

  Thus from Zeus came the idea of good times and creativity.

  In Hindu mythology, Saraswati embodies the Muses while Lakshmi embodies the Graces. The damsels known as apsaras are both symbols of good cheer as well as muses for artists.

  Zeus can be linked to Kashyapa, son of Brahma, who has many wives, through whom he populates the world.

  Zeus is visualized as riding an eagle and hurling thunderbolts. In Hindu mythology too, Indra hurls thunderbolts and is closely associated with the sky and rain. But unlike Zeus, he is not a father figure or ruler. It is Vishnu who rides an eagle, like Zeus, and is more like the guardian of the world. Like him, Zeus is visualized as charismatic and cunning and strong, and his consort, Lakshmi, is seen as a combination of Hera and Demeter. Interestingly, there is no concept of avatars in Greek mythology: Olympians do not take birth on earth in mortal forms.

  Muses were differentiated from each other based on what they held in their hands: a stylus, ly