The Literary Journey of a Myth: from the Story of Siyavash in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh to the Medieval Sendebar

This paper aims to trace the literary journey of the myth of the Great Goddess and his son/spouse, the deity of vegetation, parting form Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and ending with the Medieval Spanish Sendebar. The main structure of the named myth that manifests itself in universal mythology (Inanna/Dumuzi, Seth-Isis/Osiris, Rama/Sita and Hades/Persephone) is also present in the story of Sudabeh/Siyavash in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. Archeological and historical evidence proves that Siyavash, before being a legendary prince, was a horse totem and a god, vastly worshiped specially in Central Asia, and his functions and the rituals related to him leave no doubt that he had to do with plant life, fertility on earth and immortality. The oldest literary document that offers detailed information about the myth of Siyavash is Ferdowsi´s Shahnameh and my hypothesis is that the similarities we find between this story and that of the Sindbadnamehs, reproduced subsequently in the Medieval Sendebar, reflect the same mythical structure that has obtained ethical colors through history and has been misinterpreted to the point that it has created a misogynist frame story repeated in a plenty of literary works.
A mythological reading of this literary journey helps us understand the reason and the consequences of these historical, cultural, political and religious transformations and explains the exceptionality of the persona of Sudabeh in the Shahnameh and the different treatment she receives by Ferdowsi. It also shows that the similarities of this frame story through its literary manifestations since the 10th century respond to the necessity of preserving a very powerful and popular mythical structure that, far from containing misogynist content, reflects ancient matriarchal thinking.