Several times I have been struck by similarities between the myths and mythoses of different cultures. In most cases, it is safe to assume there is a historical explanation for these similarities. In some cases, it is not safe to assume this,* but there might be an interesting explanation of some kind, historical, psychosociological or otherwise.
But my question is: Who writes about the relationships between the mythologies of the world? Who studies their historical relationships? Who studies their thematic relationships? Is this something people actually work on? Where can I find out about it? And so on.
Has anyone tried to do a sort of “etymology” of myths? For example, has anyone tried to do something like reconstructing an Ur-mythos that led historically to, say, the Nordic, Greek and Vedic mythologies?
-FrL-
*For example, there’s a Japanese myth that is quite reminiscent of the Greek myth of Persephone. Maybe there’s a historical explanation of the similarity. After all, it’s known that imagery of Hercules from Greece managed to get itself ensconced into Japanese religious imagery suprisingly quickly, so the possibility of transmission is demonstrably there. But I’d bet against a historical connection, and would imagine the general outline of the Persephone story simply sort of suggests itself to the mythological mindset of particular kinds of cultures. But what’s the “mythological mindset?” And what characterizes the “particular kind of culture” that would come up with a Persephone style myth? As well as historical connections, these kinds of questions seem interesting to me as well.