Did Valmiki influence Homer, or vice-versa?
In the Odyssey, Penelopeia has the suitors attempt to take Odysseus's bow, string it, bend it, and then try to shoot an arrow between a row of axes, with the winning suitor having her hand in marriage. (which Odysseus wins while disguised)
In the Ramayana, Sita's father holds a contest with a bow, all being the same as what happened in the Odyssey sans the shooting between the axes, and the winner gets her hand in marriage. (which Rama won because he's like 2/3s Vishnu)
It struck me as interesting that these two completely different cultures have the same practice for a woman's hand in marriage shown in an example of their mythology.
So I wondered, was this an actual practice across ancient cultures, or was it just happenstance and just a good way of showing the god-likeness of their heroes in a story?
Thanks!
<original question: reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4v0x27/in_both_the_odyssey_and_the_ramayana_there_is_a/>
The folklorist, Stith Thompson, identifies the motif H326.1.2 as an archer's skill as suitor test. Thompson's enormous compendium of international motifs is sometimes useful - and sometimes not: the latter is the case here, which is often the situation when dealing with motifs that are not dominantly European (where Thompson is strongest).
The good news is that the motif index provides for an international language used by folklorists to catalogue the appearance of motifs in folklore collections wherever they are. A Google search of the motif reveals that a few folklorists have found this in India as well as to the east, in China and Indonesia.
I do not see that any folklorists have taken on the distribution of this motif and without that sort of specific study, it is very difficult to arrive at conclusions based on the limited evidence that can be found.
How would a folklorist account for a motif found in the Odyssey, in India and farther to the east? A working hypothesis might consider the possibility of diffusion: shared motifs can mean that they have diffused from one culture to the next, spreading out geographically; or they can mean that they descend from a common ancestor. Independent invention is also always a possibility. Without the detailed monograph needed to consider the possibilities, it is not possible to answer your intriguing question - at least from the point of view of a folklorist.