The Structural Analysis of Repeated Patterns of Deported Children in Shahname and Other Myths

There are many shared elements in all cultures finding of which helps to bring them closer. One similarity between Persian literature and the literature of other cultures is abandoned children who finally return to their home and origin and achieving better fortune. Some characters such as Keyqobad, Zal, Fereydun and Darab are regarded with hatred and abandoned in Shahnameh, yet they achieve power and heroism after going through some events. In mythological texts and epics of the world, there are also some stories which focus on the abandonment and rejection of a child from the family. All of these children who have been abandoned reach adulthood going through some difficulties and rites of passage to become heroes or kings. The structural analysis of these stories reveals that all of them share almost the same pattern such as powerful individual who rejects, the abandoned child, the place of deportation, the obstacle, the saver and finally destiny. In these stories those who abandon are frightened or fear these children. In fact, two main reasons cause the abandonment of these children, the first is the fear of future events and the second is parent's hatred of these children who are unwanted or have some disability.