Source: TW
A quick gloss on Gold in Vedic & Hellenic poetry. Gold is likened to virile seed in both’s mythos. In ŚB 12.7.1.1 retasa evāsya rūpam asravat tat suvarṇaṃ hiraṇyaṃ abhavat (from his Indra seed his form flowed, & became gold) while in Pindar’s Pythian Ode 12.17 υἱὸς Δανάας τὸν ἀπὸ χρυσου̂ φαμεν αὐτορύτου ἔμμεναιie (Perseus, the son of Danae, who they say was conceived in a spontaneous shower of gold). It is worth glossing that retas (sperma) is rationalized as gold as a manifestation of light, light being the common element between the two.
That the divinity of Indian nobility was accepted is furthermore affirmed by the occurrence of gold in ritualistic paraphernalia such as the robe/appearance of a king, gold among his possessions of tiger skin & gems, slaughtering-knife of the aśvamedha horse made of gold.
That the legitimate owner of gold is entitled to divine, lawful, hereditary right to rule is affirmed also by Greek lore by Herodotus who mentions the youngest son of the first man could handle golden objects, hence he is king. Homer mentions a gold-bespangled staff in Il.1.245
ὣς φάτο Πηλεΐδης ποτὶ δὲ σκῆπτρον βάλε γαίῃ χρυσείοις ἥλοισι πεπαρμένον ἕζετο
Thus spoke Peleus’ son & dashed to the ground the spectre studded w/golden nails.
In The Odyssey, wine was poured into golden cups in Nestor’s palace. A ram of golden fleece was considered kingly power by Alcmaeon of Croton, while the Iranian/Avestan chvarěnah could represent the same. Avestan Hvar derives from Proto-Indo Iranian *súHar from which Sanskrit svar & sūrya too derive. Hvar was considered to be the visible form of Ahura Mazadā w/the same seed & light function.
Pindar in the Olympian Ode 1.1 & the Śatapata 13.2.2.17 declare gold to be the form of nobility. Pindar says χρυσὸς αἰθόμενον πυ̂ρ ἅτε διαπρέπει νυκτὶ μεγάνορος ἔξοχα πλούτου (Gold.. gleams more brightly than all other lordly wealth) while the horse is kṣatram akin to gold.
Vedic Indians & Hellenes associated divine paraphernalia being of gold composition. Homer held the gods of Zeus to assemble on a golden floor who were served wine in golden cups by Hebe. Hera harnessed her horses w/golden frontlets. Zeus clad in gold had horses of golden mane.
In line with ŚB 12.8.1.15 w/gold being a rūpa of the gods, Indra’s vajra is said to be made of gold ṚV 1.85.9. Rudra’s bow is also said to be of yellow character AVŚ 11.2.12 as is Indra’s bunda. Indra’s chariot too is made of gold while the garments of the Maruts consist of gold.
The Vedic Indians bestowed unto Indra the epithet índro vajrí hiraṇyáya (Indra the Golden one bearer of the bolt) just as the Greeks honored Aphrodite with a similar epithet χρυσῆ Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodite the Golden One). The former was glossed by Sāyaṇa as sarvābharaṇabhūṣita.
Sometimes an evil power could also be associated w/gold such as goddess Nirṛti in the Atharvaveda Saṃhita who is described as golden-haired. The Greek God Ares was believed to be associated with bronze χάλκεος Ἄρης (brazen Ares) in the Il.5.704 but in Od.8.285 w/golden reins.
From an Ode of Pindar (Isthmean), Pindarus exclaims the relationship between the Mother of the Sun God, Theia, and gold w/the common factor between them being the light. Silver was likened to lunar symbolism & Homer describes Rhesus’ chariot being wrought of both gold & silver.