A Lost WAR of the Indo-European Gods? The Mythology of Conflict

Can you focus more on the Devas vs Asuras in another video, especially concerning that the Asuras are revered in Iranian peoples vs Devas in the Indians, and that these cultures shared boundaries and even some gods like Mithra and Varuna

As Heraclitus would have said, "War is the father of all and the king of all; it proves some people gods, and some people men." Strife as a condition of existence is sacralized in our timeless memorial to remind us of its fundamental function rather than our past. Excellent delivery, Jon!

Devas (Suras) - The one in Tune (represents Order) The Asuras - The ones who are away from tune (represents Chaos). The idea is that Vishnu a.k.a. Shiva understands that both Order and Chaos are important for balance in the universe.

Bres is the son of Eiru, and husband of Brigid, but there are many similarities between Eiru and Brigid as sovereignty goddesses and Bres and Balor, who is named as Bres’ father in some stories. Funnily enough, Balor is the grandfather of Lugh, Bres’ greatest enemy. It is so cool to see the recycling of archetypes in all these stories.

One of Durga's 108 names is Aindre, also called Caindre. So here we are in the conflict of light vs. dark duality when the snake charmer constellation became the heavenly physician. Thank you ever so much for your work on cultural evolution. it's ever a delight to find a new video.

I'm so happy I found this channel. The amount of nonsense, Ancient Aliens, Alternative researchers and what not on Youtube is disheartening. This channel is quite the opposite. You earned yourself a sub 👍😊

As per RIG VEDA after battle of 10 kings (DAS RAJAN YUDDH) in BHARAT(ancient india) 9 Kings expelled who establish new regions persua(today persia), hellas(today Greece) etc follow some similar Hindu gods with different names.

I find it noteworthy how the frost giants fighting the gods in Nordic mythology is a parallel to the Olympian gods fighting the Gigantes. Maybe for those two mythologies the Proto-Indo-European version of the conflict got split into two distinct stories, with the Vanir and Titans filling the role with a more positive connotation (that may sound strange regarding Titans but the Greco-Roman mythological Golden Age was supposed to have occurred while Kronos/Cronus was king of the gods, whereas Zeus/Jupiter presides over the less ideal following ages, plus the Titan Prometheus gave mankind the knowledge of fire while Zeus/Jupiter didn't want us to have it) and the Jotun and giants filling a more ambivalent or negative role, sort of akin to the Fomorrians and other giants in Celtic mythology. I also noticed the motif of outdoorsman versus sedentary lifestyle reoccurs in the myth of Esau and Jacob, complete with an ensuing conflict betweem the progeny of each, the Edomites and Israelites, which the biblical text gives the connotation of good (Israelites) versus evil (Edomites) and divine blessings are conferred upon the former. Oddly enough, while asuras are considered the demonic ones in Hindu mythology and devas are the good ones, in Persian mythology it is the opposite, in fact in Zoroastrianism the good God is Ahura Mazda while daevas are considered demons, with Ahriman or Angra Manyu filling the role of a devil.

What's also interesting is these two "teams" so to speak, were also recorded in the myths of every continent. Major differences do occur though, Australian aboriginals for example, do not have a war with these other people, the other people simply move to the harder to live places before becoming one with the clouds or some other local natural phenomena. So I think it is interesting that the "war" took place specifically in the indo European complex, but other groups knew of these differences further afield but did not end up in a violent conflict with each other. It's interesting to think that this story played out all over the globe at almost the same time but only the indo Europeans sought war as the solution.

Gotta love how you constructed the video without nothing but subtle hints at the position you'd lay out in the end. That's for sure a way of keeping people with opposing views interested until they're smacked in the head with a huge flat "No, they weren't." Pure rethorical gold. :) That said, it would be interesting to look at conflicts in other mythologies to try and identify which human conflicts seemed important to them at that seminal point. The Chinese and the Mesoamericans come to mind as a rich source of potential future videos. ;)

Really enjoying your lectures. By chance I was watching "Chimp Empire" earlier today, about the intergroup warfare/conflict in the Ngogo forest of Uganda. Chimps have been documented for decades engaging in what closely resembles human tribal warfare, for political and resource control purposes. I'd suggest that mythological stories of war and conflict are attempts to understand and explain this inherent (genetic) propensity of all human societies to go to war. It's a behaviour not limited to PIE culture and myth. Unfortunately, it's going on right now in the same geographic area that the PIE culture originated: Southern Russia/Ukraine. The genetic difference between Chimps and Homo Sapiens is only 2%.

Another great video Jon! Most educational as always. Looking forward to your next class, keep up the great work. Have a great weekend!

Really good insights, my dear Sir. Thanks you for this disquisition. Very much appreciated. (Big fan of your channel here)

Perfect timing i was browsing what to watch before work! 🎉

I just love your delving into the mysteries of ancient myths and tales! Fascinating!

I think I'd really enjoy a video with you & Randall Carlson discussing these myths. Truly fascinating channel.

The conflict between the Farmer and the Cowman is as old as time. I pointed out the plot of Oklahoma! to my wife,(and had to pause to go watch the video for "The Farmer and the Cowman should be friends") and she pointed out the movie McClintock. Same same.

Fascinating as always Jon. Thanks for sharing.

Love this channel. This is an excellent, intriguing entry. Thank you!

Great vid - so much packed into 26 minutes!