Abstract
Odin and Zeus. A comparative study on the supreme gods of two mythologies. is a comparative analysis of Odin and Zeus and of the mythologies they belong to. The study follows Georges Dumézil s theory of tripartite ideology according to which the Indo-European societies were divided in three classes represented by priests, soldiers and peasants. These could also be found on a mythological level, so that the society of gods can also be said to be driven by the same principles. Following the Nose model described by Dumézil in Gods of the Ancient Northmen (1959), according to which Odin and Tyr represent the first mythological class (function), Thor the second, and Njord, Frey and Freya represent the third function, the study aims at describing a similar division in the Greek world. The analysis follows the three functions described by Dumézil. The thesis describes Odin and Zeus in parallel along the tree functions in order to see what features they expose. In conclusion it can be seen that Odin is the sovreign god in the Norse mythology; he has war-like features, but cannot be considered a god of war; he has no third function features. Zeus, on the other hand, is the strongest and the mightiest of all Greek gods, and can be taken to represent all three functions, as long as we consider also that he can be helped in his representation of the second and third function by other specialised gods.