Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• reza shajari ¹
• Elham Arabshahi Kashi ²

¹ Associate Professor and Faculty Member, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, Kashan University.

² Graduated from Ph.D course in Persian Language and Literature, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Kashan, Iran

Abstract

The archetype of the lion has a special base in world mythology and Iranian literature, and poets and orators have used it to instill many meanings such as courage, royalty, warfare, etc.; To the extent that the killing of a lion or a dragon in the nursery by Hazrat Ali (AS) is one of the famous mythological and heroic adventures that gradually entered the field of ritual poetry and has been addressed by many ritual poets since the 7th century. The fame of the symbol of the lion in the field of mysticism and ethics can also be a symbolic debate, and the lion is a symbol of external enemies (the devil, enemies of religion, etc.) and internal enemies (self), which most religious saints have overcome. Due to its epic and boastful form, the use of the lion symbol is reflected not only throughout history, but also in the field of ritual poetry and religious epics and poems in praise of religious leaders, especially Hazrat Ali (a.s.). This research, with the analytical-adaptive historical method and using library sources, while investigating the multiple functions of this archetype, also deals with its role in mystical and ritual poetry. The results show that religion and myth are inextricably linked and the lion is one of the archetypes that left the world of myth and epic in the field of mystical and ritual poetry and according to its teachings; New symbolic aspects have been found