> [[allen-n]]. "Ambā, Lucretia and the question of Indo-European origins". Article in [[albedil-yanchevskaya-eds-2018]]. ## Abstract > Following in the tradition of Indo-European comparativists such as Georges Dumézil and Dominique Briquel, the paper compares two wronged females whose suicides lead to major developments within narratives from India and Rome. Ambā’s reincarnation Śikhanḍ̣in enables the death of Bhīsṃ a, the first Kaurava marshal in the Great War that stands at the heart of the *Mahābhārata*. The suicide of Lucretia, raped by one of the Tarquins, is the trigger leading on to the end of the Monarchy at Rome and the inauguration of the Republic. The paper compares not only the two females but also the sets of males with whom they interact. The numerous interlinked similarities are to be explained by Indo-European common origin. ## Keywords Indo-European cultural comparison, Ambā, Lucretia, Bhīṣma, Brutus, oaths.