Editing Hayk (section)

==Comparative mythology==
{{Further|Culture hero}}
[[Image:Hayk statue.JPG|thumb|220px|right|Statue of Hayk (1970) by Karlen Nurijanyan in [[Yerevan]], [[Armenia]]]]
Armen Petrosyan describes Hayk as "a complex epic figure that combines the characteristics of the god creator, the father and patriarch of gods, the thunder god, and the war god" that derives from Indo-European archetypes and influenced by Near Eastern mythology.<ref name=":1" /> Hayk is a culture hero and an [[Etiology|etiological]] founding figure, like [[Assur (god)|Asshur]] for the [[Assyria]]ns, for example. The figure slain by Hayk's arrow is variously given as [[Belus (Babylonian)|Bel]] or [[Nimrod (Bible)|Nimrod]]. ''Hayk'' is also the name of the [[Orion (constellation)|constellation Orion]] in the Armenian translation of the Bible.<ref name=":1" /> Hayk's flight from Babylon and his eventual defeat of Bel has been compared to [[Zeus]]'s escape to the Caucasus and eventual defeat of the Titans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kurkjian |first=Vahan M. |title=A History of Armenia |publisher=Armenian General Benevolent Union of America |year=1958 |location=Michigan |pages=50 |chapter=Chapter VIII: The Beginnings of Armenia |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Asia/Armenia/_Texts/KURARM/8*.html}}</ref> Petrosyan considers the Indian deity [[Rudra]] to be the most similar mythological figure to Hayk. Both are associated with the constellation Orion, both have descendants or followers of the same name (''Hays'' and ''[[Rudras]]'') and both are archers that kill their enemy with an arrow.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Petrosyan |first=Armen |date=2011 |title=Armenian Traditional Black Youths: the Earliest Sources |url=https://www.academia.edu/2941077 |journal=The Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=39 |issue=3 & 4 |pages=343}}</ref>