Myths of abduction of women from Ancient Greece and India

Homer, the Greek poet who lived in the 8th Century BCE Greece is said to have composed the two epics ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey.’ In both epics the subject matter was the Trojan War. The purpose had been to entertain his aristocratic audience by referring to the heroic deeds of their Mycenaean ancestors. Kampar, the Tamil poet who lived in the 13th Century A.D., Tamil Nadu, India composed his epic ‘Kambarāmāyanam’ whose subject matter was the war between Rama and Ravana. The main purpose was to enhance the piety of his readers who consisted of both aristocrats and common people. Despite the differences apparent in the two epics depending on the different nations, cultures, traditions, purpose and time period; both the works are similar in their literary genre of Epic. This same factor contributed to the existence of both similarities and differences in the depiction of the supernatural element, characters, incidents and beliefs. Both epics presented the abduction of women which became the backbone of the respective literary works.