SOURCE: "The Socioeconomic Implications of Conflict of Gods in Indo-Iranian Mythology," in Ancient Economy in Mythology: East and West, edited by Morris Silver, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1991, pp. 59-71.

In the essay that follows, Irani contends that the central theme of conflict between gods in Indo-European mythology reflects a broad worldview linked to socioeconomic conditions.

In the mythology of many branches of the Indo-Europeans there appears a particular theme, that of conflict of gods. Whatever else this conflict may reflect, it certainly is what I consider to be a dramatic expression of a deep and pervasive conflict of ideologies, or socioeconomic systems associated with worldviews and ethical systems. This is what I shall present in the early part of this paper. In the latter part, I shall refer to some peculiar mythologic accounts of the termination of the conflict, which by their oddity incline us to look for...