Introduction and mythological analysis of the missing narrative of Shahriār’s death; the son of Borzu (based on the old Shahriār-nāma of Farrokhi)

Shahriār-nāma is one of the long Persian epic poems in the continuation of Ferdowsi's Shāh-nāma, which was written in two different versions by two poets named Farrokhi and Mokhtāri. The main poet was Farrokhi, Mokhtāri plagiarized his work and re-composed it under his own name. The story of Shahriār is an outstanding and distinct narrative of the archetype of the epic hero, which shows the mythological Initiation in such forms as the child hero, the Journey, the migration from the birthplace to the enemy's land due to the unkindness of the lineage (such as Siāvash's migration to Turān), crossing the sea, austerity and sacred slavery, seven classic labours (nine groves), departure and return to the center of the world (in this story: Zābul) and his heroic romances. Although the pattern of epic stories ends with the hero's death and martyrdom, the quality of the hero's death, which is killed by the betrayal and conspiracy of a woman (Frānak: the daughter of the Indian king Hitāl), is very special, impressive and different from all other heroes' deaths. However, due to the incomplete publication of Shahriār-nāma, the story of Shahriār 's death has not been published until today. While introducing and textual criticism of the story "Death of Shahryar" based on the Patna manuscript (Bankipur), this paper has analyzed it in relation to the archetypal structure of seven labours of a hero.

Based on the manuscript of the Patna library (Bankipur), this paper introduced, textually criticized and edited the missing story of Shahryar's death. Also, the repeating structure of the hero's seven-stage journey in this story has been analyzed by the mythological approach.

Based on the manuscript of the Patna library (Bankipur), this paper introduced, textually criticized and edited the missing story of Shahriār's death. Also, the repeating structure of the hero's seven-stage journey in this story has been analyzed by the mythological approach.