Rethinking of the status of Goddesses in Indian and Greek Mythology: A Prefatory Comment

Abstract

Myth is a folklore genre in which characters are usually gods, demigods, or supernatural humans. Myths are endorsed by rulers and priests and are closely linked to the way a religion is practiced. In referring to their remote past many societies invoke their myths, legends or history to make an evaluation of their present. Indian and Greek mythologies are very ancient and share some startling similarities. However, mythological history across civilizations has been largely recorded by male sages, poets or philosophers like Aeschylus, Homer, Sophocles, Valmiki, Kalidas. A closer scrutiny of goddesses in various mythological traditions clearly shows that every culture was dominated by male gods although goddesses were elevated to the status of mothers or deities. In both Greek and Indian mythologies gods, who we worship, have ill-treated goddesses. The present paper highlights sufferings faced by goddesses or their subjugation in Greek and Indian mythologies.