"He Who Slays the Serpent" and Fame in the Modern World

Zeus v. Typhon

There are a couple of foundational myths which occur in almost every culture traceable to the indo europeans. One of them is the story of the hero who slays a serpent, or serpent like creature. It's pictured above in the guise of Zeus v. Typhon. It also may be familiar to fans of Old Norse (Thor v. Jörmungandr), the Rig Veda (Indra described as "the one who killed the serpent."), Hittite (Baal v. Serpent), and of course who can forget St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland.

My point here is that these stories are similar in that they are concerned with man's quest for immortal fame.  These stories point towards the fact that the "quest for fame" is not something that we invented in the 20th century, but rather a concern that reaches to the very beginning of indo european culture and language, and indeed, might not have that desire been what made the Indo European's different from the people's they encountered during their expansion from central asia?  The desire for fame is a powerful motivator as we can attest today.