پژوهشنامه ادب حماسی
سال هفدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 32، پاییز و زمستان 1400)

One of the political and social phenomena in Ferdowsi’s epic is the different uprisings and revolts that occurred due to the injustice and cruelties of the kings.  In between the stories of evil kings in ancient Iran Ferdowsi had recorded these revolts in his lofty masterpiece. The uprisings had occurred in Iran’s society for different motives.  The purpose of this article is to analyze Shahnameh’s uprisings in terms of structure.  Meanwhile the kings without a Divine Farr are recognized those against whom the revolts had occurred and in this way the reasons behind Ferdowsi’s dealing with the uprisings against kings in Shahnameh which is the book of kings are enumerated.  Employing library and documentary sources and applying descriptive analytic method all the actions leading to uprisings against kings are studied and the strategies used in the revolts as one of the political and social phenomena are analyzed in view of Ferdowsi’s power of visualization and poetic talent.  The results obtained show that different factors were involved in each revolt and the majority of them led to rulers’ downfall..

Shahnameh explains the history and destiny of Persian land and hence is an authentic translation of the cultural background of the Persian nation, therefore one of the most important discussions one can find in it is Ferdowsi’s sociological outlook.  In mythological section of Shahnameh the social life trend is very similar to the trend discussed in social theories.  One significant theory belongs to Ibn Khaldun.  He is a prominent figure in the history of social theory.  Among the concepts he had devised one can refer to the most important ones namely the concept of “Asabiyyah” which has been translated as social cohesion and the five stages of rise and fall of empires.  The purpose of this article is to study the reasons for the downfall of Jamshid’s empire in the light of Inb Khaldun’s sociological theory.  Jamshid is a Pishdadi king, a sage who has achieved all arts and is competent in every aspect.  The main assumption in this research is that Ibn Khaldun’s theory applies to all aspects of Jamshid’s empire.  First a brief introduction is given regarding sociology in literature, then the above concepts are defined, finally Jamshid’s empire are analyzed according to the five stages from the rise to its decay.  It is concluded that although in Ferdowsi’s time the science of sociology had not existed as the present form, sociological theories are reconstructed in his epic.

Epic texts are dispensable parts of Persian literature whose main masterpiece is Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. After Shahnameh, composing epic became popular and following its imitation in different eras, variety of religious and historical epics were composed, however in their compositions political, cultural and social changes in the country were greatly influential and in accordance with those changes the theme, standpoint, features and purposes of the epic characters had also changed.  This research is an attempt to study the anti-hero modifications and to find its similarities and differences in national, religious, and historical epics of Banu Goshasb nameh and Faramarz nameh, Ali nameh, and Khavaran nameh, Tamar nameh, Jang nameh Keshm and Jarun nameh respectively. Library and descriptive analytic method were used in this regard.  The results obtained show that religious and historical epics are based upon national epic however in fundamental opposition between good and evil and in correlation with the protagonist’s aim in the tale and the theme of the tale were subject to certain changes.  The common factor in three kinds of epic is the presence of a humane anti-hero who fights with demonic, inauthentic, and vulgar characteristics but this anti-hero in religious and historical epic influenced by hero’s motivation and the historical narrative, in pursuing purposes such as struggle, action, anti-hero characteristics and finally his final destiny underwent a change.

The historical novel of Ten Ghezelbash in five volumes is one of the most significant historical novels and it is believed to have far more capacity to be regarded solely as a mere historical novel. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate aspects such as epic structures and themes.  Using library and descriptive analytic method this research deals with studying those aspects.  The existence of different war scenes against foreigners in the novel on one hand and writer’s emphasis upon national Persian values, and elements at the same time as well as Shia sect on the other hand had caused this work to have many similarities with a prose epic text.  Certain epic themes include the hero’s journey, women as pioneers to claim love, war and war strategies, presence of horse with mythological epic functions, description of weapons, unity of ethnic groups in confrontation with enemies, patriotism, and struggle in order to win name and integrity, abstinence from dishonor, vagabondage, astrology, and prediction.  The extent of using epic deeds and elements are quite significant in this novel.  Some are drawn directly from Shahnameh and Ferdowsi’s influence upon Masroor is evident in this regard.  It can be understood that despite having certain differences with Shahnameh, this historical novel has established close relation with epic style and one can regard it as an epic in prose.

Archetypal criticism is one of the remarkable approaches in literary criticism which deals with variety of archetypes in literary texts.  Shahriar -nameh is counted among heroic epic texts after Shahnameh and deals with the destiny of Shahriar the son of Borzu.  After close inspection of this work, outstanding archetypes are drawn out and analyzed according to Jung’s theory.  In this epic the hero in order to attain individuality has to overcome obstacles.  At first he fights his own shadow and starts a challenging journey.  Along the way a wise man accompanies him to guide him through the dangerous path.  Demonic forces such as demons and dragons which are the manifestations of shadow appear on the path  whom Shahriar fights. Also he passes successfully from the haunting and fantastic places.  Next, he encounters a beautiful enchanting mistress and a witch, manifestations of his own anima in the epic with whom he struggles.  Sistan is regarded as the representative of stream consciousness from where Shahriar’s journey begins, then after experiencing individuality and perfection in the land of unconsciousness (India) he finally returns to his own family regaining his consciousness and in this way completes the loop of individuality connecting its end to the beginning.

From Iranians’ perspective Shahnameh is a book of politics and the manner of ruling a country and via portraying the destiny of heroes and kings in fact gives a lesson to dictators and world worshippers informing them of punishments and consequences of their sins and oppressions imposed.  The purpose of this article is to study from different angles how states are formed.  Aspects such as Divine Farr, Royal Farr (heredity , blood relationship in royal generation),  power and having social status as important factors in forming sovereignties.  For this purpose the conflict of power and heredity is studied in more than fifty kings.  The main pillar of sovereignty in Shahmameh is power and varieties of its manifestations.  In other words, Shahnameh is the struggle of powers that is the battle of justice against injustice. According to the beliefs of certain communities in Shahnameh women whether in a position of a reign or as a queen are transmitters of heredity and agents who transfer royal blood and power in the infrastructure of the sovereignty.  Traces of the ancient tradition of matriarchy can be seen and in this regard women mostly appear in the role of a mother, a daughter or a sister as the agents who transmit heredity example being the marriage of Zahak with Jamshid’s sisters, the tale of Siavash, and the tale of King of Yemen, Sarv who refused to let his daughters marry Feraydun’s sons.  The writers of this article employed a comparative analytic method to study and compare different reigns and to deal with the conflict of power and heredity as one of pillars of their sovereignty.

Similarities of Zal with deity warriors in the Iranian and Indian mythologies which are represented with different structures in the course of time could be reminiscent of the consistency of those characters in eternal days or the prime myth producing mind.  For this reason using descriptive analytic method the purpose of this article is to recognize the roots of the tales centering around the character of Zal in the   Indo Iranian mythologies.  Examples of similarities between Zal and Indra, Ormazd, Mehr, and Veruna in Rigveda and Shahnameh is shown.  Zal who is raised far from his family in Simorgh’s nest returns to his divine abode in the Alborz mountains and upon uniting with Mehr or the sun, establishes his similitude with the myth of Indra which borrowed statements from the myth of mythra or (Mehr) upon passing time.  The myth of Suma, a plant which gives power to Indra and provides a basis for his invincibility in its prime function that is healing property resembles the healing feather of Simorgh in the national epic which rendered Zal invincible.  The myth of Soma in Indra’s tale is comparable with the healing tree upon which Simorgh’s nest rests according to Zoroastrian texts.  The high frequency of similarities between Zal and Indra are worthy of contemplation and strengthens the assumption that these two are closely related or are representative of the same important themes repeated in a peculiar, significant way in the minds of ancestors and had been a common feature in creation of the mythological epic narratives.

Yadegar zariran is one of the ancient epic texts of Iran, the old version of which dates back to the Parthian period. The purpose of this article is to show the image of a child in the literary structure of Yadegar Zariran. In this research, an attempt was made to investigate the role of "Bastour" as a seven-year-old child in this epic text, using a descriptive-analytical method and a structuralist approach. The results obtained in this study show that the very bold and dual presence of the bed in the monument of Zariran, on the one hand as a seven-year-old child and on the other hand, as a warrior, in addition to increasing the story's appeal to the text, has Demonstrate epic etiquette for the presence of the child. Also, according to the theory of structuralism, some dual confrontations such as the confrontation of children and adults, the confrontation of writing and speech, the confrontation of Iranians and Khyunans, In this text, it is analyzed that from this perspective, Zariran monument can attract children as the audience of epic texts.

Since Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh include captivating tales, it has attracted the attention of writers of children and adolescent to a large extent.  A child having the specific characteristics of his age group requires his own needs in order to acquire scientific knowledge and sources in any form even narrative one therefore the present article written using descriptive analytic method and for gathering data made use of library studies is an attempt to study the potential of certain realistic tales in Shahnameh which include issues such as battle scenes, historical, social, romantic, mystical, and moral themes according to child’s age group so that by using strategies such as rewriting, revising, and so on render the ancient text of Shahnameh more appropriate for the age group in question.  In this way these realistic captivating tales can attract the attention of the younger audience, so that they can relate to them in their everyday life.  Moreover, those stories which deal with one or number of heroes because of their adventurous nature and content and their palpability to man’s life could set an example for children with their creative minds.  Inducing the feelings of identification in the audience, the presence of actual child characters in realistic tales of Shahnameh also could serve as an important factor in increasing the potential of the tales to capture the attention of children.

In the tale of Rostam and Esfandyar we are faced with two noble warriors.  One believes that “No one will ever see me in chains alive” while the other brazely states “A king’s fetters are no cause for shame”.  What brings the two noble warriors in opposing sides and leads them to their inevitable end is the difference in their outlooks towards the kingdom and Pahlavani or heroic institution the former is raised from the Persian tradition before Zoroaster and the latter is derived from the reforms made by Zoroaster.  Employing the structuralist approach this research studies the standpoint of Pahlavani institution and its relations with the kingdom institution in the two following traditions before Lohrasp, and Lohrasp-Goshtasp.   Important features in the former are the following:  the presence of Nyram’s family as a representative of Pahlavani essence, the convincing validity of heroic identity, independence and freedom of a warrior, Pahlavan’s intermediary role between the king and his subjects, his supervision over justness, and the royal empire, and minimizing the King’s power.  In the latter tradition Pahlavan or warrior belongs to the royal family. He does not have a genuine identity and he is totally obedient to the commands and has no role except fighting under the king’s banner.  Contrary to the former Lohraspi tradition, the royal institution has unlimited power and no institution is defined and recognized to supervise king’s deeds and to threaten his avariciousness.  It seems that Lohraspi-Goshtaspi tradition is the result of reforms made by Zoroaster himself or Mobads in the name of Zoroaster.

Fire is one of the four elements the discovery of which transformed the life style in humans.   This element has always been revered by all nations.  Some worshipped it while others used it in their rituals.  From the distant past till present whether in mourning ceremonies or in festivities fire with its symbolic dual meaning has been present in human’s life and played an indispensable role in man’s life in various ways.  Nowadays candle serves the same illuminating purpose in all occasions, be it in feasts or in mourning despite the conflict it might offer it conveys a kind of peace which explains its common use in the world.  All renowned civilizations worldwide have different stories for the advent of fire and the common point in all mythologies throughout the world is that its discovery has been recognized as a turning point in man’s life and been revered by all.  Using descriptive analytic method as well as library sources this research is an attempt to study the standpoint of fire in Avesta and Bondahesh and further analyze the conflict embedded in this symbolic element. Fire had been an inspiration for poets to compose enchanting poetry by creating a multifaceted feelings to prepare the grounds for composition.  This is in accordance with the history of variety of forms fire displays in Avesta and Bondahesh where the root of this element lies.

Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and Moulana’s Masnavi are among the most influential works in Persian literature. Having narrative structure they could well be compared with one another.  Bakhtin, Russian theorist introduces the concept of multilingualism in the domain of narrative as a substructure of polyphony, however does not include epic and poetic meter in this category.  The main question of this research is that if there were linguistic layers in these two versified narrative works, to what extent each employed polyphony and what had been the impact of this feature on the two works.  The study of women’s language in the above tales seen from the perspective of polyphony show that although some of Bakhtin’s linguistic genres are found in women’s certain language, however women in Shahnameh share this characteristic far more than their Masnavi counterparts, and therefore Ferdowsi had surpassed Moulana in employing polyphony for characterization of women in the tales.  Moreover, this study further differentiates between the outlook of these two great poets regarding women and the origin of the tales.  In Shahnameh women are dialogue orientated whereas in Masnavi they mostly remain silent.

In order to be safe from the nature’s wrath man started to worship manifestations of nature and this matter made primitive men to attach the power of magic and spell, supernatural force or spirit to the natural phenomena.  In this way fetishism sect (power of magic) Mana (supernatural force) and Animism (spirit) took form.  Certain myths are inherent in the nature and religious beliefs of a land since according to the view of some scholars epics are born from myths therefore the existence of mysterious phenomena in them is a natural affair.  Asadi Tusi’s Garshasp nameh is a fine example.  Using descriptive analytic method the purpose of this article is to analyze the natural phenomena in Garshasp nameh which has mysterious characteristics. The results obtained show that mirror has the healing power, stone has the power to make rain and make women fertile, belt increases warrior’s might, tree has the power to heal patients, bird’s feather also cures patients, spring both heals and offers help, plant has the power of bravery, has healing properties, tends to be a promoter of sleep and an aphrodisiac, water revives, and Garshasp’s mace has extraordinary power.  It is concluded that mysterious natural phenomena act as a force and a fetish, and the spirit within them has the role of Mana and Animism.