واکاوی شخصیت سیمرغ در شاهنامه و منطق‌الطیر بر پایة نظریة ذهنیت اسطوره‌ای

Abstract

Simurgh is a mythical character which appears widely in Persian literature as a being deeply rooted in mythical stories. Simurgh appears in both epic and mystic poetry, however, the characteristics of this mythical bird in epic poetry greatly differs from its characteristics in mystic poetry. Analyzing this difference can bring to light the similarities and differences of two separate yet connected worldviews. According to Levy-Bruhl’s theory, mythical thinking unlike logical thinking and reasoning often ignores objective experience and stands on grounds which cannot be supported by reality happening outside of the mind. According to this theory, the law of Participation is dominant in primitive thought and this thought sometimes ignores causality. Causality is known to the primitive mind, yet unlike logical reasoning it is not central to mythical thinking. Primitive thought also considers totemic animal as the protector of the members of its group. Totem in this way of looking at the world, is not just an object or animal but goes beyond objective experience and enters realms of mystic world which cannot be understood through logical ways of reasoning. In this paper, with the use of desk study and content analysis and the use of Levy-Bruhl’s theory, we have tried to analyze mythical characteristics of Simurgh in Ferdowsi’s Shāhnāme and Attar’s the Conference of the Birds. Simurgh, a mythical bird, needs to be analyzed by tools different from what logical thought provides us. In this respect, Levy-Bruhl’s theory supplies us with the tools which help understand the peculiarities of Simurgh’s character. After using Levy-Bruhl’s ideas about totem and the law of participation to understand this mythical being, we have compared this bird in these two literary works; one an epic poem, the other one a mystic poem. We found out that Simurgh’s character is rooted in mythical thought. In Shāhnāme, this bird lives on a sacred mountain, is the totemic ancestor of Zāl, with the use of its feather protects Zāl’s family, suspends causality, is a which-doctor and can prophesize. So Simurgh is not just a bird which can be analyzed by logical reasoning since its deeds are beyond the objective experience and what we know about birds. On the other hand, in the Conference of the Birds, Simurgh lives on Ghāf, its feather can be used for prophecy, and has Farr. In this story, again the characteristics of the bird falls apart from the characteristics of real birds. After comparing Ferdowsi’s and Attar’s Simurgh using Levy-Bruhl’s theory, we came to this conclusion that the difference between Shahname’s Simurgh and Attar’s Simurgh is in the amount of participation of this bird with the members of its group. Despite Shāhnāme, in which participation of Zāl and Simurgh does not cause Zāl to melt in Simurgh’s being and forget his self, in the Conference of the Birds we see that the birds melt in Simurgh’s being and in fact, their goal is to forget who they are and become one with this mythical being. While mythical thought is more noticeable in Shāhname, but the Law of Participation has a deeper role in Attar’s story. So while in epic poetry Simurgh appears as the totem of the group who saves the members of its group when needed, Attar’s Simurgh is a mystic being who brings all the members together and makes them one. In epic tradition Simurgh is one with the group yet separate from them, while in mystic tradition Simurgh asks its followers to become one with it and put behind their real beings. In conclusion, two different worldviews use the same mythical character and use its features to create two separate meanings in different contexts.

Keywords. Shāhnāme, conference of the birds, Levy-bruhl, participation, causality.