A Comparison of Indo-European Worldview’s Reflection in Firdausi’s Shahnameh and the Kyrgyz Epic of Manas

Indo-european worldview has been reflected considerably in the formation of the Persian poem and prose, because of its literary and contextual grandeur. It has affected many works in various aspects, so that its mythology has been used in the prominent works such as Firdausi's Shahnameh and the Kyrgyz epic of Manas. However, the way of possessing such a worldview by Shahnameh and Manas is the subject of current research. In this regard, we have described and considered the behavior of heroes in the two works based on the George Dumezil's Three Functions Theory. Our study reveals that the tree functions of the theory have been applied all over the stories of these two epics. This theory is based on the two vises: coordination and contrast; meanwhile Shahnameh and Manas are based on goodness and evil, which are symbolized in heroes such as Siavash/Bakai as well as Rostam/Manas. The first section consists of the wisdom, intellect and calmness symbols, and the second section is related to the symbols of violence, stringency warmness, militancy, and self discipline; while ordering the Quadruplet elements system, provides the people with peace and self-coordination by its force. Moreover, there are invulnerable Demons and Personages in both epics such as Esfandiar (in Shahnameh) and Malgun and Mady Khan (in Manas). However, their only vulnerable spots are their eyes through which they must be killed and their dominance must be ended. This is the motif of “Killing the Demon by blinding him”, which forms one of the worldview's elements mentioned in Indo-european mythology.