Figure (Naghsh) and Banner (Derafsh): An Investigation into the Underlying Relations between Hero, Color, and Figure in the story of Rostam and Sohrab

Underlying structures of literary or artistic works are shaped by implied and multilayer semantic relations among their constituents. At the surface structure, they manifest as aesthetics of the works. So, their key concepts and symbolic meanings should be sought at the layer of deep structure. Shahnameh is a literary work having rich meaning depth, and broad underlying semantic relations. The variety and multiplicity of its constituents open it up to study from different perspectives. Focusing on two frequent structural elements in an episode in the story of 'Rostam and Sohrab', namely, 'the color of Sarapardeh' and 'the figure of Darafsh', this article reveals the their implicit relations, and sheds light on one part of the colorful and mysterious world of this masterpiece, in order to show to what extent the overall meaning and the numerous concepts of the text have been conveyed through these two elements alone.