The Behavior of the Main Characters in the Story of "Zāl and Rudāba"; An Analysis Based on the Joseph Campbell's Theory of Hero's Journey

"The hero's journey", Joseph Campbell's famous theory, is influenced by Jung's ideas and based on Arnold van Gennep's ideas. Campbell has considered the three-phase pattern (separation, transition, and return) along with their subsets as his model. This pattern, along with other patterns that have emerged from it, is the basis of the archetypal criticism. In the present article, by using analytical-descriptive method, the story of "Zāl and Rudāba" of Shāhnāmeh is analyzed based on this pattern. The findings of the research show that the story is generally consistent with Campbell's hero's journey pattern, but its details and subcategories have differences with the pattern. In the story, the stage of the "belly of the whale" is not seen; There is no "temptation" in the stage of transition to prevent Zāl from continuing the journey; and in the stage of return, refusal of the return, magic flight, and crossing of the return threshold are not seen.