It has been suggested, for instance, that the Rāmāyana, the Sanskrit epic poem, owes a debt to the Iliad and to the Odyssey, with the theme of the abduction of Lady Sita by Rāvaṇa a direct echo of the elopement of Helen with Paris of Troy. Influences and inspiration flowed in the other direction too, with some scholars arguing that the Aeneid was in turn influenced by Indian texts, such as the Mahābhārata.31 Ideas,
