Similarities Between Iliad And Mahabharata

The first major difference that can be seen between the two is that there is no single protagonist in an Indian Epic. In the Mahabharata, there are many characters who can be termed as the protagonist. One can assume Yudhishthira, Draupadi or Krishna to be the protagonist, since almost all characters are as important as the other. In fact in the Mahabharata, the events are arguably more important than the characters themselves. In contrast as seen in the Iliad, there is a single main character or protagonist around whom the story revolves, Achilles. The Iliad starts with the theme of Achilles’ anger, which drives the plot forward. On the other hand Mahabharata is an amalgamation of various themes of various themes and characters with various events influencing each other.

The Iliad is a Greek epic poem that was written between 6th and 8th centuries B.C. in ancient Greece. The Mahabharata is an ancient epic poem from India dating back to 6th century B.C. These two literary works were written in separate countries who had minimal or no contact with each other during that period. Hence, there are many differences between the two. However, Western scholars were fascinated by some striking similarities that existed therein. These similarities are a possible reason why the orientalists would have looked upon Mahabharata as an epic in the European sense. Both the Mahabharata and the Iliad are about wars that started mainly because of kings and princes and their flawed characters. In the Iliad, the Trojan War began because Paris, a prince of Troy, stole King Menelaus’ wife, Helen. Meanwhile, in the Mahabharata, the war began mostly because of Duryodhana’s jealousy of the Pandavas. The Iliad demonstrates the negative consequences of greed and selfishness, while the Mahabharata discourages