Wrestling and the Hero Archetype

Wrestling has been popular since ancient times and it has been associated with many aspects of Iranian culture. In this regard, wrestling has been a physical ritual, and today it is performed at the national, indigenous, and local levels. This study focuses on the myths behind this ritual movement. It is aimed to explain the myths that have been the reason for the meaning, continuity, and the value of this movement as a ritual in Iranian folk culture throughout history via the analytical method. In ancient culture, a person who fought with the destructive forces of nature became the heroic archetype who created livelihood and security in a society and was respected by the people. This challenge with the antagonist also entered the arena of the enemies of Iran, and wrestling was a symbol of the action of the heroes who fought a duel to protect his land and its values; but what was suggested in Iranian culture was that these heroes, whose actions establish the security and order of the society, first, must clear their background as an antagonist, and voluntarily go into the battle with shadows. In Iranian society, this became a value and moral foundation for the heroic archetype and remained in the collective subconscious of the Iranian society, and in the festivals of folk culture where wrestling is held, all these values are projected on the wrestler character. This forms the kind of social identity and cohesion through which viewers receive love and self-fulfillment.