ABSTRACT
Linguists have long known that the Vedic god Dyaus (‘Sky/Heaven’) is etymologically cognate with Zeus, but in his massive contribution to Indo-European cultural comparativism Dumézil made little use of the fact. However, Dumézil’s discussion of Dyaus as incarnated in the Mahābhārata hero Bhīṣma prompts the question of whether Zeus is linked to a Greek epic hero comparable to Bhīṣma. In fact, yes: Zeus has a son, Sarpedon, who resembles Bhīṣma in the following ways: both fight and die for the Losers in the central conflict of their respective epics; both are major leaders, second only to the loser supremo, whom they both criticize; both seem to be active over three generations, and both are associated with bloody rain. Thus, the two figures no doubt go back to a proto-hero linked with the Indo-European Sky god *Dyeus. However, the comparison needs to include also the similarities between Bhīṣma and Hektor. Both come first in a sequence of four battlefield leaders, and both are killed by the Winners’ champion with female help. It is suggested that these features originally belonged to the proto-hero who lies behind Bhīṣma and Sarpedon but were transferred from him to another figure during the development of the Greek tradition.
