Indra

As the Greeks explored other cultures and sent ambassadors to the far reaches of the Earth, they began to assign the names of their own gods and goddesses to the preexisting ones of another culture. Megasthenes was an ambassador to the Maurya court in India in the third century BC. Two of the gods he encountered here he referred to as Herakles and Dionysus. Scholars first believed that Herakles was Krishna (Visnu) and that Dionysus was Shiva. Now, however, they believe that Herakles was Indra and that Dionysus was a god of the hill peoples (Sedlar 1980 56, 187-8).

Indra is the god of war and his weapons include a thunderbolt; he has control over the weather as well. Indra is a mighty figure but is marred by his active lifestyle of overindulgence in food and drink, especially a hallucinogenic drink. Indra is best known for killing the serpent Vritra who caused drought. This association adds an element of fertility to Indra’s persona. Herakles is also somewhat associated with fertility. Indra helped the gods fight the Asuras, their sworn enemies, much like the giants that Herakles and Thor were constantly fighting (Hallam 1996).

The similarities between Herakles and Indra are easy to see. They both were overindulgent and great warriors of the gods. Fertility is a power attributed to both warriors. Indra brings life-giving water to the land. Herakles is capable of impregnating 50 women in one night. That is only a few minutes per woman. Now, if that is not a sign of fertility, I don’t know what is. (MAC) 

Hallam, Elizabeth; general editor (1996). Gods and Goddesses: A Treasury of Deities and Tales From World Mythology. New York: MacMillan. 

Sedlar, Jean W. (1980). India and the Greek World: A Study of the Transmission of Culture. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield.