A Comparative Reading of the Simile and Its Intellectual and Cultural Motifs in the Rigveda and the Avesta

The use of similes constitutes a fundamental element of literary imagination and imagery as one of the pillars of rhetoric. In addition to serving as an ornamental device, it functions as a means of expressing the underlying worldview and intellectual framework of the text. As such, the simile serves as an effective tool for examining the literary and conceptual dimensions of works. An analysis of its structural elements, particularly the principal components of simile and the tertium comparationis, reveals the prevailing ideas and worldviews within these texts. The ritual beliefs and intellectual traditions of India and Iran in the millennia before the Common Era are reflected in the rhetorical forms, particularly similes, found in their ancient religious texts and sacred hymns. With a comparative and descriptive–analytical approach, this study explores the similes used in the Rigveda and Avesta, the oldest extant texts of the Indo-Iranian peoples, to identify the intellectual and cultural similarities and differences between them. The results show that similes in an array of forms significantly influence these texts' rhetorical features. Furthermore, the two primary components of simile and the tertium comparationis reflect both different and shared worldviews; at times, they are indicative of the two peoples' independence and development of thought, while at other times, they are anchored in their early unity.