== 解釈と比較神話学 ==
ジョージ・デュメジルは、ヴァハグンがアヴェスタの[[ウルスラグナ]]よりもヴェーダのヴリトラハン・インドラに近いと指摘した。ヴリトラハン・インドラはヴァハグンと同様に龍や蛇を倒す者として描かれているが、[[ウルスラグナ]]はそうではないからである<ref>Dumézil, 1970, p123</ref>。ヴァハグンはしばしばインドラの対語とみなされてきたが、アルメン・ペトロシアンは、両者の類似は直接的な借用の結果ではなく、インド・ヨーロッパ語の共通性が根底にあるとみなしており、そうでなければ[[ウルスラグナ]]との非類似性は不可解であるとしている<ref>Petrosyan, 2007, p6</ref><ref>Petrosyan, 2018, pp211-212</ref>。言語学者のヴャチェスラフ・イヴァノフは、ホレナツィが記録した『ヴァハグンの歌』を「インド・ヨーロッパ語族の詩の顕著な例の一つ」とみなしている<ref>Petrosyan, 2018, p211</ref>。イワノフの考えでは、ヴァハグンの神話には、後にイランで生まれたヴェレストラグナ神話や、敵を迫害する神というインド・ヨーロッパ語族の神話の層がいくつか含まれている<ref>Ivanov, 2011, p9</ref>。アルメン・ペトロシアンは、ヴァハグンを完全な借り物というよりも、イラン人の名前を持ったイラン以前のアルメニアの神とみなしている<ref>Petrosyan, 2018, p211</ref>。
[[Georges Dumézil]] noted that Vahagn seems closer to the Vedic Vŗtrahan Indra than the Avestan Verethragna, since the former is depicted as a dragon/serpent-slayer like Vahagn, while the latter is not. Vahagn has frequently been regarded as a counterpart of Indra, but Armen Petrosyan considers the similarities between the two to be underlying Indo-European commonalities rather than the result of direct borrowing, since in that case the dissimilarity with Verethragna would be inexplicable. Philologist [[Vyacheslav Ivanov (philologist)|Vyacheslav Ivanov]] considered the Song of Vahagn recorded by Khorenatsi to be "one of the striking examples of [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] poetry." In Ivanov's view, the myth of Vahagn contains several layers, including the later Iranian myth of Verethragna and an earlier Indo-European layer of a god persecuting the enemy. Armen Petrosyan considers Vahagn to be a pre-Iranian Armenian god who took on an Iranian name, rather than a complete borrowing.{{Sfn|Petrosyan|2018|p=211}} Petrosyan has also drawn parallels between Vahagn and the Vedic fire deity [[Agni]], based on similarities in the accounts of their birth.{{Sfn|Petrosyan|2007|p=6}} Vahagn may have acquired his attribute of dragon-slayer from the Hurro-Urartian deity [[Teshub]].{{Sfn|Russell|1986}}
Vahagn was identified with [[Heracles]] during the [[Hellenistic period]].{{Sfn|Petrosyan|2018|p=207}} In the 5th-century Armenian translation of the Bible, Vahagn is used to translate Heracles in [[2 Maccabees]] 4:19, while Khorenatsi states that the song of Vahagn tells of heroic deeds reminiscent of Heracles.{{Sfn|Russell|1987|p=196}} More rarely, he was identified with the sun god [[Apollo]].{{Sfn|Petrosyan|2007|p=6}} [[John the Baptist]] has been called the "Christian heir of Vahagn's character," as a church dedicated to him was built near the demolished temple of Vahagn.{{Sfn|Petrosyan|2007|p=6}}