The Comparison of Horse’s Symbolic Concepts in Epic, Lyric, and Gnostic Works (On the Basis of The Shah-Nameh by Ferdowsi, The Khamseh by Nizami, and The Masnavi by Molavi)

Symbols (which have often) originated from myths are so mixed with literatworks that it is sometimes impossible to comprehend poems without understanding the symbolic concepts. The use of animals’ names and symbols is very common in Persian Literature. Sometimes their real meaning is meant and sometimes their symbolic one. In this study, we investigate symbolic concepts of horse in epic, lyric, and gnostic works (on the basis of The Shah-Nameh by Ferdowsi, The Khamseh by Nizami, and The Masnavi by Molavi) comparatively and according to the library method and descriptive-analytic method. At first, we will have the dominated attitude on Avesta and Pahlavi texts about horse, then symbolic concepts of this quadruped in epic, lyric, and gnostic domain will be expressed. At the end of each part, we will determine the percentage of collation of the symbolic concepts in two or all three works, frequency of the animal’s name, and percentage of usage of horse symbolic concept in each work. The outcome of this article is this point that horse has high usage in the analyzed works with the repetition of 1439 times and 20 symbolic concepts. 25 percent of this quadruped (running fast, fury, strength, and duplicity) in all three works and 20 percent (burliness, beauty, spiritual and sensual existence, and worthiness) in two of them are conformed; 55 percent of the concepts are used only in one of them. In addition, 25 percent of concepts are in epic domain, 25 percent in lyric one, 40 percent in gnostic one, and 10 percent in other domains (besides epic, lyric, and gnostic).