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The most striking overlap, away from themes and into a literal excerpt from each, is the bow chapter in both epics. Though in Ramayana this occurs even before Rama moves away from home, Sita is His anchor, and their union after He strings a divine bow no other suitor can even lift, forms the emotional foundation prolonging his eventual return. In Odyssey, the bow forms the premise of the climax as Odysseus strings his own – something none of Penelope’s other suitors can do – to shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads, reclaiming his household. Homer was of course aloof of the word ‘swayamvar’, but the thematic overlap makes itself the clearest here – victory over the bow, a divine union and resolution, or conversely, solidification of the ultimate journey.