"A Study of the Displacement of Mythological Themes in the Persian Romance Samak-e Ayyar"

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. in Persian Language and Literature, University of Isfahan; Teacher, Ministry of Education, Iran.

2 Corresponding author, Assistant Professor, Department of History Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22103/jll.2026.26001.3222

Abstract

Purpose: Samak-e Ayyar is the earliest long prose narrative and one of the finest stories in the Persian language and literature, shaped by epic, heroic, and ayyari[1] themes. This work encompasses numerous rituals, customs, and narrative motifs, elements that are closely connected to folk culture and that follow ancient mythological patterns.
This study aimed to examine the manner of myth displacement in this text; that is, how characters, settings, and actions depart from their original mythological structures and are redefined within new social, moral, or narrative frameworks.
Method and Research: Using library-based research tools and a content analysis approach, the study identified the mythological motifs of creation, dragon-slaying, and fertility in Samak-e Ayyar and demonstrated the various forms of their displacement within the romance.
Findings and Conclusions: The findings revealed that these mythological motifs are present in this romance in modified and displaced forms and function as attempts to explain existence and to provide illuminating responses to death and life as they pertain to beings and phenomena in the world.
Conclusions: The displacement of these myths accelerates the fundamental transformation of epic into romance. In this text, the two literary genres initially appear alongside one another; however, as a result of extensive mythological displacement, the epic gradually fades and gives way to romance.
 
 

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References

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Journal of Prose Studies in Persian Literature
Volume 28, Issue 58
March 2026
Pages 151-168

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