One idol, across the ages
The The Sky-Father
The sovereign of the heavens, hurler of storms.
Why these are the same idol
This one is half linguistics. Comparative philology reconstructs a Proto-Indo-European sky-god, *Dyēus Ph₂tēr, literally “Sky Father”, whose name descends directly into Zeus, Roman Jupiter (Dyeus-pater) and Vedic Dyaus Pitar.
The role outlives the etymology. Across pantheons the sovereign of the bright sky sits at the head: Zeus with his thunderbolt, Odin the all-father, Ahura Mazda the luminous Lord, Ra crossing the heavens by day.
Georges Dumézil called this the “first function”, sovereignty and the sacred. Whatever the language, the supreme position keeps being filled by a luminous father in the sky.