Document Type : علمی- پژوهشی

Authors

• JABBAR NASIRI ¹
• eshaq toghiani ²

¹ Lanuage & Literature, Faculty of Language & Literature & Humanities,University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

² Professor/Persian Language & Literature Groupe، Language & Literature & Humanities Faculty ، esfahan، Iran

Abstract

Narrative love poems constitute a part of Persian classical literary texts, and they are divided into three areas of epic, lyrical, and mystical literature. One of the common features of these works is the extensive presence of the and mythological archetypes and elements in them which could be described, evaluated, and discussed using mythological criticism. In this paper some of the poems of the collection of One Hundred Persian Narrative Love Poems are discussed using the comparative mythological approach of Max Muller regarding the structure and character interaction. Reading the poems in the light of this approach allows us to determine why the protagonists journey lasts one year, to what purpose the orient and the occident are mentioned (China and Roman Empire), the reason behind the presence of a guide, witches and seducing women, horoscopic names, fictional characters and the manifold adventures of the protagonist of the poems. . .

Highlights

Analyzing the Myth of Mehr in the Book One Hundred Persian Narrative Love Poems

Jabbar Nasiri¹  Ishaq Toqyani²

^{1. Phd candidate in epic literature / Isfahan university[1]}

^{2. Professor of Persian language and literature -Isfahan university[2]}

Introduction

Narrative romances constitute a main part of Persian literary texts. Each one of these romances, with regard to the content of the genre they are narrated in, includes a story with common motifs and themes with other narrative romances. One of the prevalent themes of these works is the adventures of lovers and beloveds in quest to reunite with one another, which is often called a narrative romance.

Goals and Methodology

Since these romances have common and outlined infrastructure, it seems a myth-criticism, which emphasizes the element of mythology in literary-artistic texts, would be a proper approach in their analysis. In this article, myth is considered as a research technique. Therefore, we discuss and analyze some narrative romances which lend themselves to myth-criticism in the collection of One Hundred Persian Narrative Romances by Hassan Zolfaghari, using the adaptive approach and relying on Max Müller’s theory.

Adaptive mythologists underline the similarities among myths and therefore, they compare myths from different cultures to see their common motifs and attributes. Many researchers speak of a myth core or center and believe that there is an interconnected network of relationships among the myths. Of course, there are different opinions about this core; however, Max Muller believes that the central myth and axis of thought and imagination among the Indo-European nations is the sun. For this reason, this article is based on Max Müller’s theory of solar mythology and uses the adaptive similarity method to discuss and trace the reasons and roots of common characteristics (with regards to content and structure) in some narrative romances.

Underlining the sun and considering it as the main axis of thought and imagination among the Indo-European nations, Max Müller interpreted it as the most powerful and useful myth. He believed that the most prevalent and comprehensive narratives among the Indo-European people is related to the sun and the mythologies around it, and the other myths are evaluated based on their relation to it, in so far as all other great changes like that of day and night, seasons and years, rain and draught and many others happen by the direct or indirect relationship to this mythology.

Müller adapts the movement of the sun from sunrise to sunset to the continuous process of growth in human beings, that is childhood, adulthood and old age. He considers the three stages of the sun’s position as the most effective natural phenomenon and the main heroic structure in all mythological narratives, and all heroes go through the three stages of preparation, glory, and fall. In other words, in his theory of solar mythology, Müller believes that the main gods and mythological heroes of the Indo-European people are in fact the metaphors for the sun.

          Conclusion

According to this reading, in some of the romances of this book, the events and what befalls the lover in his quest to unite with the beloved is the embodiment of the natural progress of sun from sunrise to sunset, similar to the three stages of the sun during the day (morning, noon and evening) in the form of three stages of preparation, glory and fall as it has been symbolized in the romances. The main figure of the solar mythology in ancient Iranian beliefs is “Izad Mehr” which finds expression as one of the most important narrative patterns in narrative romances. Generally, the manifestation of the myth if Mehr in the book of One Hundred Persian Narrative Romances could be categorized in three different ways:

1-    In some of the romances, there is a seven-pillar structure among the practitioners of Mehr religion in the form of actions and consecutive heroic trials to achieve certain goals.

2-    In other romances, as a result of going into oblivion of the early Mehr-related metaphors, the name Mehr has been used merely in naming the characters and there is no indication of the beliefs and rituals of Mehr religion(except for the complementary structure of sunrise and sunset).

3-    In some other romances, the septet structure and the name of Mehr is manifested in the plot and identity of the characters.

There are also guiding characters (a friend or a dervish) in the romances equivalent to the father in the mystery religion of Mehr. In Iranian mythology, the path that Mehr takes is in accordance with the direction of the sun’s movement, from East to West. In Persian narrative romances, this is manifested as a one-year journey by the hero from the birthplace (a place in the East like China) to the destination (a Western land like Rome).

By way of the manifestation of the myth of Mehr in the depth of the structure of the narrative romances, there are many characters whose names metaphorically and indirectly refer to Mehr beliefs in symbolism level, such as Aftab, Khorsheed, Mehrab, Shams, Mehr, Khorsheed-Afarin, etc. Some other names like Jamsheed, Mahpareh, Simorgh, Mah, etc. also metaphorically indicate the beliefs that revolve around the sun. The ultimate goal and motive of the solar hero in narrative romance is to unite with the beloved, a girl/girls who the hero has to go through different trials and overcome obstacles to marry or free them.

In mythology, Mehr appears as a strong warrior saddling on a white horse armed with mace, javelin, and other weapons. He is manifested in the narrative as a warrior prince with a loyal and extraordinary horse, who along with his friends and army, in quest to unite with the beloved, shows courage and performs heroic acts. With regards to each of these factors, we could understand why the journey is one-year long, and what the reason is behind the reference to the Eastern and Western lands (China and Rome), the existence of a guide, the temptresses and witches, the philosophy of astronomical names of the characters, and the multi-stage adventures of the hero in the narrative romances.

Keywords

• myth
• narrative love poetry
• comparative literature
• Mehr
• Muller

20.1001.1.22517979.1398.72.239.8.2

Main Subjects

• . Epicical and Mythical Literature