The Representation of Mythical Pattern of Cosmic Battle in the Traditional Iranian Performances

The idea of duality and the mythical pattern of the cosmic battle is one of the major religious themes of Iran, which can be seen both in the content and in the executive structure of the Iranian theatrical traditions. In this mythical plot, two characters with opposite natures or opposing goals duel with one another, and in result, a kind of creative consequence such as liberation of water, liberation from captivity, moving from chaos to order, or a fertility of the world might occur. In some theatrical traditions of Iran, we trace the similar reflections of cosmic battle, a battle that symbolically represents a mythical primordial event, and via this imitable pattern, people, objects, and places of performance transcend each part of which becomes a manifestation of the sacred act/object. In this article, an attempt was made to take advantage of the mythological roots to examine the manifestation of the sacred in traditional performances such as “Sukhan-vari”, "Daeeshmeh Ashiq", "Pahlavan Kachal" and "Mir-e Nowrusi” through the perspective of Mircea Eliade’s historiography. The researchers tried to explore how this pattern, particularly the concept of cosmic battle, is represented in a series of traditional performances that have been considered as a part of idiosyncratic and life necessity in popular culture.