Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Reza Jamshidi ¹
• Ghodrat Ghasemipour ²
• Asad Abshirini ³

¹ PhD in Persian language and literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz,, Ahvaz, Iran

² Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

³ Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
One of the common features between myths and fairy tales is shapeshifting, which is manifested by changing the shape of fictional characters into non-human beings, such as animals, demons, plants, fairies, gods, etc. The marriage of a maiden with a nonhuman (mostly a snake) has many manifestations in Iranian fairy tales, and its traces can be traced in several narratives, such as "Sultan-e- Mar's play, Mirza Mast-o-khomar and Bibi Mehrnegar, Shah Khestekhumar, the story of Ah, Mehrinnegar and Sultan-e-mar" and many other oral narratives originating from different regions of Iran. In European literature, there are numerous “Div-o-Delbar” stories in which a maiden marries a nonhuman being. Human-animal marriage has a mythological background in European literature, but in Persian literature, it is not possible to consider a mythological background for this type of literature, because in Iranian myths, contrary to folk traditions, there is not much evidence of this type of marriage.

Procedure

 
Review
In the writing of the first part of this article, we delve into the effects the aforementioned narratives have had on one another through the French approach of comparative literature; and in the second part, with an eye to the "psychoanalytic and archetypal" approaches, the discussed narratives are analyzed and their similarities and differences are explored. In psychoanalytic analysis, the theory and approaches of Freudian thinkers are the basis of work, and in archetypal analysis, the theory and approaches of Jungian thinkers.
Considering the fact that there are different narrations of the aforementioned works, it is necessary to mention the sources and versions from which the narratives are taken. The works that are the basis of the analysis are:
1- The story of "The girl who married a snake" from the Panchatantra attributed to Vishnu Sharma (see. Sharma, 1925: 177-179) and also the translation of this story from the book of Shirin and Delneshin Stories (Kalila and Demaneh): 27 short and informative stories from Panchatantra (see Kumar, 2013: 68-71).
2- The mythological narrative of "Psyche and Cupid" from the book "Golden Ass" by Apuleius (cf. Apuleius, 1393: 171-122).
3- The folk tale "Beauty and the Beast" taken from the book "Beauty and the Beast" (cf. Luprince De Beaumont, 2015).
4- The folk tale of "Mirza Mast-o-khomar and Bibi Mehrnegar" which is taken from the book "the Encyclopedia of the legends of Iranian People" (cf. Darvishian and Khandan, 1399: 14/627-637) and has been analyzed among its Iranian counterparts.

The Transformation of a Narrative

The myth of Cupid and Psyche is a Roman story that was first mentioned in Lucius Apuleius' Golden Donkey, and due to the similarities between Roman and Greek gods, it entered Greek mythology in later periods. Although Friedrich Creuzer hypothesized that the myth of Cupid and Psyche is Iranian (Benson, 2020: 276) and Richard Reitzenstein also considered Iranian Gnostic origins for this story (Tommasi Moreschini, 2013: 126), but due to the fact that there is no evidence that shows this myth has been influenced by Iranian myths or stories, these hypotheses cannot be confirmed. One of the reasons given by these thinkers for the Iranian origins of the myth of Cupid and Psyche is that the Mithraic religion of Rome was taken from the Iranian Mithraic (Mehri) religion, and the narrative of Cupid and Psyche entered Roman mythology from the Mehri religion, and the other reason is that this narrative is based on the principles by which the school of Pythagoreanism (Pythagoreanism) was formed.
Another hypothesis which cannot be relied on is that the myth of Cupid and Psyche is taken from the folk tale "The girl who married the snake" in Pancha Tantra (See: Bottigheimer, 1989: 5 & Zipes, 2013: 205-206) due to the fact that there is no document to prove that the Romans had access to the Pancha Tantra in the second century AD and the considerable differences between the narratives. Considering that Lucius Apuleius was one of the Romans who lived in Africa and was born in the city of Madaurus, which is located in today's Algeria, and the proximity of this land to Egypt and the possible knowledge of him and other residents of the city of Madaurus of Egyptian legends and myths , it can be said that the hypothesis of the influence of the myth of Cupid and Psyche is more stable than the myth of Isis and Osiris; Because in addition to the proximity of Egypt and Algeria and the great possibility of the people of Madaura being aware of Egyptian legends and myths, several other reasons can be considered to strengthen this hypothesis, which are: 1- The numerous similarities between the two mythological narratives, 2- Both of the narratives have dealt with the legends of gods and 3- sacred marriage in these myths.
There is a story with a very similar narrative in the Indian Pancha Tantra, which, in comparison with the Roman myth, some Iranian narratives have many similarities to; this story is "A girl who married a snake." Considering the access of Iranians to Pancha Tantra and its entry into Persian literature, what can be more likely is to consider Iranian stories as ones influenced by the story of "The Girl Who Married a Snake" and European stories of human-animal marriage such as Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun, West of the Moon as stories derived from the myth of Cupid and Psyche. It can also be said that there are mixed stories from Indian stories and Roman myths in Persian literature, which the influence of both narratives can be seen on them. Among them are the stories of "Mirza Mast-o-khomar and Bibi Mehrnegar" and "The Girl and the Jujubee Tree" in which traces of the Roman myth can be seen as well as the influence of the Indian story. Since the history of oral stories is not known, it is not possible to say in what period and how this combination took place.
4) Psychological and archetypal analysis of human-animal marriage in the investigated traditions
In the psychoanalytic approach to these narratives, they can be considered as an allegory of the initial fear of teenage girls in their first sexual encounter with men; It means that the narratives in which teenage girls see men as demons are considered to be symbolic, and in fact, they show the girl’s primary sexual anxiety in avoiding the loss of virginity imposed by the society and the environment. Moreover, in these narratives, we can see manifestations of Oedipus complex and Electra complex, which in the myth of "Cupid and Psyche" we witness its male type, that is, Oedipus complex, and in the two-folk tales, the Electra complex.
Conclusion
Through the archetypal lens, these stories can also be considered as an allegory of the journey of heroin and her desire for individuality. Another thing that is prominent in the archetypal approach to these narratives is the encounter with the archetypes of anima, animus and shadow, which has various manifestations. Furthermore, the confrontation between patriarchal, matriarchal and feminist attitudes is another archetypal situation that exists in these three narratives, which is accomplished by the dominance of the female hero(heroine).

Keywords

• Animus
• fear of losing virginity
• journey of the heroine
• Oedipus complex
• transition from matriarchy

Main Subjects

• Literary interdisciplinary research