Andrei Lebedev has done a study spanning 4 papers establishing:
1) How pythagoreanism & orphism were born
2) What differentiates the 2 sects from each other

My notes in the thread

academia.edu/38002181/The_T…

academia.edu/13104043/Pharn…

academia.edu/40871195/The_a…

academia.edu/65120419/The_A… The roots of doctrine of reincarnation among Greeks originated in the Aegean islands, not from Orient or Hyperborea. Island of Cyclades/Syros reveals figurines dated 3000-1900 BC, depicting "mother & daughter" where the daughter is a small exact copy emerging from the head.

A general way people would describe Gods is as "oldest & strongest of all spirits / subtle beings"

If one were to be faithful to Theogonic Cosmogonies like those of Hesiod & Orpheus, the birth of a God itself is the birth of all its inanimate phenomena(physical,mental,abstract) All material (humans) & subtle (nymphs) mortals & liberated selves interact/participate through+with+in all that inanimate phenomena. But all of it in its totality is simply an extension of an animate/conscious agent (philosophical idealism).

While initially the terms "Pancharatra" & "Bhagavata" referred to the same Vaishnava sect that was born after Vaikhanasa, we find texts & scholars of later times like in Ananda Samhita of Vaikhanasa distinguishing b/w the 2. The foundational texts of this Bhagavata sect are the Badarayana sutras (in its final form) & Bhagavata Purana (core), both of which existed by at least 450 AD and are classified under bhedabheda vedanta by academic scholars.

Development of ancient competing Arya doctrines-

Arrows mean the schools were seen as distinct from the parent.
Normal lines mean the schools saw themselves as correct "version" of the parent. 1. Devayasna: Kator/Nuristani/Pre-Vedic Hinduism
2. Uatsdin: Ossetian word for Scythian religion

Thoughts on occurrence of myths involving gods (& well other spirits)

There is a debate about whether they are real stories or allegories. Now they need not be mutually exclusive at all, but here our focus will be on how are literal occurrence treated. ++ Anything can be treated as allegory of anything if you have the will tbf, even a physically verifiable historical event. A myth could be made up to explain natural phenomena, to enact a ritual, for propaganda, symbolize internal experience, etc. Not worth a point pondering upon.