One of the straightforward, instant side-effects of reading Christopher C. Beckwith’s excellent Empires of the Silk Road is, one sort of starts thinking we are all at least a little Indo-Europeans/Euro-Asians in the end.
While the approach might initially seem rambling to the uneducated (such as myself), in the long run the Princeton University Press book builds data upon data, creating a very organic, concise but complete picture of the comings and goings of our Indo-European ancestors in the last… make it ten thousand years.

Now, while I like the later part very much as it provides tons of information which I might use to tighten up the revision of my non-fiction ebook about the Silk Road, I must admit the first chapter, with its catalogue of creation myths, really got me hooked.
There is this very consistent myth, found almost everywhere from China to the Mediterranean and Western Europe, which goes more or less like this…

• A maiden is impregnated by a supernatural being
• The king is deposed or the throne usurped
• A somehow special boy is born to the maiden
• The usurper orders the boy be left in the wilderness
• The boy is rescued/nurtured by beasts
• The boy is saved and brought back to civilization
• He grows into a very competent hunter/fighter
• The usurper employs him at court
• Problems ensue, the hero is put to death, but escapes
• The hero gets a backup team of multi-talented warriors
• The hero overthrows the usurper and restores the legitimate king
• Then he leaves and founds his own city

The order of the single episodes might vary, or some points might be missing, but from Gengiz Kahn to Romolus & Remus, to King Arthur and various mythical cycles in India, Tibet, ancient Persia – and you might want to take a look in the Bible, too – the story is consistent.
Neat.

Another constant element in these myths is the fact that the hero receives – from various mundane or supernatural sources, depending on place and time – three symbolical objects: a plough, a sword, and a cup.
Which are, of course, symbols of the three main social classes – peasants, warriors and priests.
Or something.

We are in Joseph Campbell territory, for sure, but it gets even better than that, and it gets me thinking story-wise.

Now, having mentioned King Arthur (or was it Gesar of Ling?*), cup and sword come as no surprise.
But what about the plough?

OK, admittedly, Indiana Jones recovering an ancient farming implement is not that spectacular.
And the thing would be damn unwieldy (but the Lost Ark was not that pocket-size, also).
But is it just a matter of aesthetics and portability?
Has the mystic plough ever been used in fiction?
And more important – supposing the sword is in Avalon or in Gesar’s tomb or in some secret vault, and the cup is hidden in a variety of places…
Where’s the plough?

It would be a nice start for a slightly off-beat adventure story.
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* Gesar of Ling is sort of a Central Asian King Arthur – worth checking out.