A Study on Hero’s Metamorphosis in Firdausi’s Shahnameh

Subject Areas : Persian Language and Literature

Mosayyeb  Ashki ¹ (M.A student of Persian Language and Litereture)

Received: 2012-07-11 Accepted : 2012-12-27 Published : 2013-05-22

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Abstract :

Mythological hero as one of the components of ancient mythology has a significant role in shaping the evolution of the myth’s story. Heroes play a major role in Firdausi’s Shahname (Epic of the Kings) in which the most of the stories in this epic has been borrowed from ancient mythological tales. This paper is based on Joseph Campbell the metamorphosis in which heroes in the Shahnameh are examined in terms of Campbell’s Hero’s metamorphosis or change including: The first human being and the hero, the hero infancy, the fighter hero, the lover hero, the dictator empire, the saver hero, and the departure of hero. Results show that metamorphosis or change of epic heroes in Shahname is compatible with Campbell’s theory to some extent, although; it does not match in some points like the lives of heroes which are not depicted from beginning to end. So, not whole life of the hero but some parts of it can be adapted to Campbell's model.