ABSTRACT
The chapter addresses the method of ‘language-family-based cultural comparativism’, using material from Indo-Europeia. From three latish Greco-Roman sources, it takes the somewhat obscure tradition that Odysseus, after regaining the throne of Ithaca, was transformed into a horse; but Mahābhārata 14 narrates that, towards the end of his earthly life, Arjuna is deeply involved in a great Horse Sacrifice (aśvamedha): he accompanies the stallion while, before its immolation, it wanders the territory of India for a year. Despite the differences between the fragmentary Greek and the copious well-motivated Sanskrit, a surprising number of rapprochements is possible. Thus Greek tradition juxtaposes the Odysseus-horse theme with the Odysseus-Telemachus conflict; a similar father-son conflict, between Arjuna and Babhruvāhana, occurs during the horse’s wandering. According to Servius, Penelope bore the god Pan (‘All’) to all her suitors; Draupadī bore the Pāṇḍava brothers, five sons, incarnating the Viśvedevas ‘The All-gods’. In Odyssey 11 Tiresias predicted two sacrifices to be performed by post-return Odysseus: compare the details of the two sacrifices performed by the Pāṇḍavas in Book 4.
