Multiple choice general knowledge history

which Hindu god was referred to as 'Heracles" by Megasthenes?

  1. Siva

  2. Vishnu

  3. Indra

  4. Varuna

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to the Mauryan court, identified Vishnu (or Krishna-Vasudeva) with the Greek deity Heracles in his work 'Indica.' This was part of the Greek practice of interpretatio graeca, equating foreign deities with their own gods. Shiva would correspond to Dionysus, not Heracles.