AHC: Greek Polytheism in India

The challenge is right on the tin. Make Alexander the Great a bit more a religious and make him spread Greek Polytheism into the rivers of the Ganges. Buddhism did have some major cultural influences in Greek art so why not vice versa? Roman-Indian trade routes were also common allowing several Indian traders to travel to Europe. Maybe have Alexander the Great live longer? Or maybe stunt Christianity and allow the Romans to have better relations with the Indians.
 
Not sure about Alexander doing it, but I could see a surviving successful Greco-Bactrian Kingdom doing it if they hold on and spread to India but they need to keep better communication with the Seleucids and other Greeks in the west to maintain an influx of Greek settlers. A religious king could spread their polytheism but not on a large scale because the Greeks are still a minority there and even many of those who went to India accepted religions like Buddhism, though there were some Greek temples
 
The gods of the Greek 'religion' were adopted by the Romans with their own names. Zeus, Hera, Helios, Athena, Luna, Aphrodite etc. were replaced by Jupiter, Juno, Apollo, Minerva, Diana, Venus etc. The Greek religion had their counterparts in Vedic pantheon of Hinduism. Indra in place of Zeus, Varuna for Poseidon, Surya for Helios, Soma or Chandra for Luna(Soma is not female, but male), Kama for Cupid, Yama for the lord of Hades and so on. When there are similar Hindu gods, they are unlikely to be replaced by the Greek deities. It is another story that the above mentioned Vedic deities were in later years outranked by the Trinity consisting Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Indra, once the king of gods held that title in the Puranic period too, but was a loyal servant of the Trinity of which Vishnu was styled as Devadev( God of gods) and Shiva as Mahadev(the Great god).
 
The Indo-Greeks could do it if Menander conquered all of India.

But another alternative seems to me to be the Kushan Empire. They seem to have syncretized Shiva, Vata-Vayu, and Herakles into one god named Oesho, and made Shiva's trishula look like Poseidon's trident. So, maybe Oesho's attributes could be cast onto Shiva, and in that way, you could have Herakles worshipped by Indians.
 
If I recall correctly, there was a Greek kingdom in what is now... Pakistan? That was Indo-Hellenic for a time.

Not just Pakistan. Under Basileus Menander, they raided what is now Patna in Bihar (the other end of the Indo-Gangetic Plains), but were only stopped from conquering the Shunga dynasty that ruled Maghada by an attack by a rival Bactrian king. Have Menander conquer that rival Bactrian king beforehand, and the result is an Indo-Greek Kingdom that has conquered pretty much all of the northern Indian subcontinent.
 
is it possible for the Gree gods to be incorporated into Hindu mythology? I can imagine them easier to integrate in that say... the Abrahamic god (first commandment anyone?)
 
is it possible for the Gree gods to be incorporated into Hindu mythology? I can imagine them easier to integrate in that say... the Abrahamic god (first commandment anyone?)

There will be some syncretism as anyone can figure out the two religions have deep similarities (Athena is clearly similar to Saraswati, Zeus is clearly similar to Indra (who was worshipped until medieval times), Surya is clearly similar to Helios). But outright incorporation of new gods with new names? Maybe as legendary heroes (I can see Heracles and Achilles incorporated as Hindu demigods like Arjuna), but otherwise? Probably not.

In regards to your point about the Abrahamic god, I can easily see him equated to Bhagwan, the Vedantic God, and so that means all the idols and lowercase-g gods are just attributes of Yahweh.
 
Huh, I didn't think the Abrahamic God could possibly be integratable, but from what I can see on Wikipedia about Bhagwan, you might be right.
 
The Indo-Greek religion went sort of something like this:

One god morphed into the "great sky deity" usually Apollo

Indra-Zeus took the place of the god of divine kingship, crowned by Nike as King of Dharma; Tyche served as his cup bearer

Buddha-Hercules as a hero-philosopher

The gods were hailed as the Buddhist Devas, each ruling over an aspect of the universe

People could achieve the rank of bodhisattva, living amongst the deva crowned in jewels.

Kings were hailed as Buddhas.

Sea devas were ruled by Varuna, who was served by Nereids riding whales and other sea creatures

Athena was a deva of wisdom and the dharma

Surya is the sun deva riding a chariot made of horses

Wardo is the god of wind

There is more but that is just the main deities.
 
One god morphed into the "great sky deity" usually Apollo

Hinduism doesn't really have an important sky deity by the time of Alexander.

Indra-Zeus took the place of the god of divine kingship, crowned by Nike as King of Dharma; Tyche served as his cup bearer

Indra was growing unpopular, as his hedonism clashed with Hindu purity, something an association with Zeus, an even more hedonistic god, would intensify.

Buddha-Hercules as a hero-philosopher

Heracles was generally identified with Shiva, not the Buddha.

Kings were hailed as Buddhas.

Why? The kings clearly would not forsake all desire, being rulers and all.

Sea devas were ruled by Varuna, who was served by Nereids riding whales and other sea creatures

Varuna was pretty much insignificant at this point, being a darkish god of illusion.

Athena was a deva of wisdom and the dharma

A syncretism between Athena and Saraswati doesn't strike me as implausible, with Saraswati being a goddess of war along with her other duties.
 
Hinduism doesn't really have an important sky deity by the time of Alexander.

This is actual fact. They just mixed in a bunch of gods into one figure. Sort of like Serapis in Egypt.

Indra was growing unpopular, as his hedonism clashed with Hindu purity, something an association with Zeus, an even more hedonistic god, would intensify.

Well remember, we are talking on how the Greeks would see him. Not the Indians.

Heracles was generally identified with Shiva, not the Buddha.

I mean the Heracles aspect of him being a culture hero. But yeah I did hear of the Heracles-Shiva identification.

Why? The kings clearly would not forsake all desire, being rulers and all.

This is fact. After Menander the Indo Greeks love to call themselves buddhas. But being a buddha just meant you achieved the path of enlightenment.

Varuna was pretty much insignificant at this point, being a darkish god of illusion.


Still the Greeks would see him the closest to Poseidon
 
In the modern Hinduism, the Vedic gods like Indra(king of gods and also the sky god who control rain, thunder and lightning), Varuna(god of oceans), Vayu(wind god, who create storms and hurricanes), Agni(god of fire), Yama(god of death), Kama(god of love and lust), Rathi(wife of Kama, goddess of sexual union) etc. are no longer worshiped commonly. There may be one or two temples here and there, but not important. The commonly worshiped deities are the members of the trinity, their consorts, children and incarnations. Interestingly Brahma is not commonly worshiped. Shiva and Vishnu, the supreme Gods for the two sects of Hinduism, Shaivites and Vaishnavites, have the largest and most important temples. Saraswati, the consort of Brahma and the goddess of letters, wisdom and learning, Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu and the goddess of prosperity and riches, and Parvati, the consort of Shiva and the goddess of power, arms and warfare, are worshiped in many places. Ganapati, the elder son of Shiva and the remover of all obstacles and Subrahmanya, the younger son of Shiva and the commander of the army of gods are also worshiped in a number of places. Then Lord Rama and Lord Krishna, and other avatars of Vishnu are widely worshiped. Then there are local deities confined to certain places. The Shaivites and the Vaishnavites were once very hostile sects who fought each other like two separate religions and also against the Buddhism and the Jainism. I think that the modern Hinduism came about as a result of the truce between the warring sects, both sects accepting their Supreme Gods as members of a supreme trinity, with Brahma as a third neutral member. Brahma is not as powerful as the other two members and he acts more like a mediator and the one who conveys the petitions and prayers of the minor gods like Indra to Vishnu and Shiva. The Vaishnavites also consider Lord Buddha as the nineth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu after Lord Krishna.
 
Syncretism isn't impossible, Indo-European pantheons are very similar and highly syncretical. Just like Roman chroniclers talked about Germanic gods using the names of their Latin counterparts, same could be done by the Greeks in India. Perharps some Indian god can get a new Greek 'nickname' and vice-versa, some rituals can be adopted by the other culture, but IMHO that's pretty much it.
 
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