L’età dell’oro sotto Vr̥tra e la formula indoeuropea ‘terra inarata’

Abstract

In a Rāmāyaṇa passage Vr̥tra is represented as a king of the Golden Age. Virtuous, pious and compassionate, he is killed by a ruthless Indra. The meaning of such an anomalous episode is analyzed in the light of the dumezilian comparative method.

KEYWORDS: Sanskrit, Indo-European, Golden Age, cultural reconstruction, Indo-European myth