Exploring Vedic Ritual Mythologies: Reconstructing a Dialogue on Ritual and Myth across Rome, Paris, India, and the United States

This chapter reconsiders the relationship between myth and ritual through the lens of Vedic traditions, bringing into dialogue the Roman School of the History of Religions with key contributions from structuralism and contemporary ritual theory. By comparing the works of Dario Sabbatucci, Frits Staal, Charles Malamoud, and Jonathan Z. Smith, it argues that Vedic ritual is not merely a formal or meaningless sequence of actions but a historically situated practice that generates and negotiates meaning. Particular attention is devoted to the ritual of sacrifice and the symbolism of food and cooking, showing how ritual activity constructs and reproduces social, political, and cosmological order. More broadly, the chapter demonstrates the value of historically grounded comparison for understanding the dynamic interplay between myth, ritual, and material culture.