Structuralism of Rostam and Taryel's Trials

Some of English translators have deemed “the man in the panther skin”, composed by Shota Rustaweli, as a romance; and translated its title as “the knight in the panther’s skin”. If we regard it deeply, we will find out that the title of this symbolical and mystical epic has implicitly been associated with Shahnameh of Ferdowsi as Rostam, the great hero of Shahnameh was entitled a man with an amour of panther or tiger skin. Certainly Rustaweli was fully aware of the Text of Shahnameh because he once mentioned the name Rostam in his epic explicitly. Moreover some of the names in his epic directly and indirectly are associated with the names in Shahnameh. According to some literary evidence, Iranian mythology has had a great influence in Georgian mythology; therefore, it is not very unlikely that, Rustaweli had adopted the title of his epic from an epithet of an Iranian epic.
This study is based on the method of descriptive analysis by using library research and taking advantage of the resources available in a qualitative way. The present study tries to deal with the following question: what are the similarities and differences between the elements of Taryel's trials of Rustaweli and Rostam’s in Shahnameh of Ferdowsi? The research should be based on proposed patterns of structuralism. Due to the brevity and the knowledge of the readers on reviews of Shahnameh, this article is only based on discussions covering "the man in the panther skin” epic in details.
The entire epic "The man in the panther skin” covers the trials and obstacles that Taryel and Aftandyl, two heroes of this epic, must pass to save Nestan Daryjan and that Taryel gains the kingdom. In this epic, the heroes somehow overlap. In the process of the epic "the man in the panther skin” trials encircle around a particular axis in order to fulfill a goal. For this purpose, although Aftandyl and Taryl have separate Trials, their last trial is in common, and since the characters overlap each other, they are in a horizontal axis. Taryel overlaps Aftandyl, Fereydoun as a master guide, helper and hero overlaps those two champions. However, in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, as Rostam passes over the Seven Trials with the assistance of some helpers, they do not overlap him since he is the only main character of this epic. The symbolic elements discussed in this article are as follows: Character, Travel, helper, love, panther skin, battle with predatory animals, places, blood healing, and fighting the evil creatures. Moreover, according to the proposed patterns of structuralists, Rostam’s Seven Trials have similarity and conformity with the Ten Trials of Taryel. However, there are some differences which need to be mentioned. Taryel's Trial trip is more complicated than Rostam’s. Taryel's trial trip is done in several stages during four trips while Rostam's trial trip starts from a point and ends in the final point; but Taryel's Trial trip is in a circle, begins from the starting point and returns to the same point by completing the circle and passing the last Trial. Rostam achieves his goal by saving Kavus; but with rescuing Nastan. Taryel does not still reach the stage of accomplishment; two other trips must be done up to the symbolic hero in panther skin to fulfill the final goal of the epic.