ColossiansOne

Side by side, from the sources

Zeus vs Indra

These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Zeus pater, Iuppiter and Dyaus Pitar are the same title inherited by three branches of one language family.

Deity · Greek · c. 700 BCE

Zeus

also called Dias, Jove, Ζεύς

Sky-father and enforcer of oaths, whose name descends from the same Indo-European root as Jupiter and Dyaus.

Alignment
Disputed
Rank
King of the Gods
First attested
The Iliad · c. 750 BCE
Named there as
Zeus
Texts naming it
3
Powers attributed
4
90attestedGreek

Deity · Vedic · c. 1400 BCE

Indra

also called Ahihán, Indran, Ahihan, Indiran, Meghavahana, Vritrahan, Sakra, Sakka, Vajrapani, Vasava, इन्द्र

The thunderbolt-wielding king of the gods, who slays the serpent Vritra and releases the pent waters. It is the Indo-European form of the same combat myth as Baal against Yam.

Alignment
Celestial
Rank
King of the Devas
First attested
Rigveda · c. 1500-1200 BCE
Named there as
Indra
Texts naming it
4
Powers attributed
3
100attestedVedic & Hindu

Where do they actually overlap?

Texts naming both

None. The two never appear in the same text in this corpus, which is worth knowing before accepting any confident claim that they are one figure.

Powers credited to both

Common questions

Are Zeus and Indra the same figure?

These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Zeus pater, Iuppiter and Dyaus Pitar are the same title inherited by three branches of one language family. ColossiansOne records the link rather than asserting the identity: where texts disagree about whether two names denote one figure, the disagreement is what gets shown.

Which is older, Zeus or Indra?

Indra is the older name: first attested around c. 1400 BCE, against c. 700 BCE for Zeus. Where the two dates are far apart, that gap is the whole reason the pair is worth comparing.

Do any texts name both Zeus and Indra?

No text in this corpus names both. That is not proof they were considered the same figure, but it is why the identification has to be traced through the scholarship rather than read off a page.