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The preeminent scholar of comparative studies of Indo-European
society, Georges Dumezil theorized that ancient and prehistoric
Indo-European culture and literature revolved around three major
functions: sovereignty, force, and fertility. This work treats
these functions as they are articulated through "first king"
legends found in Indian, Iranian, and Celtic epics, particularly
the "Mahabharata," Dumezil, drawing on an extraordinarily broad
range of Indo-European sources from Scandinavia to India and
offering an original and provocative analytic method, set a new
agenda for studies in comparative oral literature, historical
linguistics, comparative mythology, and history of religions.
"The Destiny of a King" examines one of the "little" epics within
the "Mahabharata"2;the legend of King Yayati, a distant ancestor of
the Pandavas, the heroes of the larger epic. Dumezil compares
Yayati's attributes and actions with those of the legendary Celtic
king Eochaid Feidlech and also finds striking similarities in the
stories surrounding the daughters of these two kings, the Indian
Madhavi and the Celtic Medb. When he compares these two traditions
with the "first king" legends from Iran, he finds such common
themes as the apportionment of the earth and the "sin of the
sovereign."
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