A Comparative Study of Freydūn in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and Shakespeare’s King Lear with Mythological Approach

Introduction

Although the epic of Freydūn in Shahnameh and the tragedy of King Lear are created in different time and location, they have remarkable and significant similarities that they could be compared. In this article the data is collected in documentation method, and the research is done in descriptive and comparative method and the dissimilarities are explained according to mythological approach because it seems that what makes Freydūn differ from king Lear comes from mythological belief of these two cultures. Freydūn is a hero whose origin comes from gods, he has ahuric wisdom and he knows the fate from the beginning therefore he makes the best decision and gives the best country to his best son but king Lear is not so. His decision doesn’t come from the wisdom and it depends to a test which he couldn’t be able to determine the authenticity of its result.
At the end of story Fereydūn has patient for taking revenge and conquest of goodness to evil that at last it happens but King Lear tragedy ends to the ruin of the whole family all the good ones and bad ones. And we think that this tragic end depends to the King Lear’s first unfair decision and if he makes the appropriate choice, the end of this story will differ.
Freydūn’ character doesn’t change throughout the epic he is a wise man that has some signs from gods but Lear is not the same. It seems that all events happened for changing Lear from a king to an old wised man.

Methodology

This research is done in descriptive and comparative metod and the data is collected in documentation method. The dissimilarities are explained according to mythological approach. It seems that although the similarities between these two stories are remarkable but the differences are important because it shows the origin beliefs in different nations and knowing these origins could help us to understand the stories and the purpose of the creator much better.

Discussion

Freydūn is the first prototype of heroes in Shahnameh that we could find the sign of myth in his story. He is the hero that binds Zahhāk in Damavand and receives Farrah of Jamshid. He divides his kingdom between his three sons and it causes two older brothers kill their young brother, Iraj. Iraj’s grandson- Manuchihr- revenges and kills Salm and Tūr. We could see the signs of myth in this story and it could be said that Freydūn has traces of Indo-Iranian gods.  
In King Lear tragedy we could also see the traces of Greek mythology somewhere e.g. Lear mentions Apollo or calls his daughter as a Satan or tells that he binds to a fiery wheel that it refers to Ixion myth. Ixion myth could be interpreted as an ambition without responsibility which it is true about King Lear character in this tragedy. He wants to keep his glory without responsibility. The theme of this story and Ixion myth are the same: ingratitude, killing the relatives, suffering and punishment.
There are similarities between these two stories which causes to attract the researcher’s attention. In both we could see that fate and prediction plays an important role, kings decide to divide his kingdom between his children, there are some challenges. Both kings have three children that the youngest one is the good one who is killed by two old ones. Both kings died in natural death. The theme of these two stories is the battle between evil and goodness.
On the other hand, there are some remarkable differences in these two stories that show their diversity origins. Freydūn gives the best section of his kingdom to his best child but Lear doesn’t do so. He makes a test and since he is not satisfied from his youngest daughter’s test result, he  deprives her from inheritance. The important theme in this tragedy is that the king’s fellows understand the honesty of youngest daughter but king himself is not so wise for getting it therefore he is deceived by his old daughters. The reader of this tragedy could result that all disasters that happen are the consequence of Lear’s fault.
On the other hand, Lear’s character is changed through the story but Freydūn is not so. It seems that in the beginning Lear is not aware of his court and after all events he becomes an old wised man. That is not the same about Freydūn, he is a wise man through the story and all that happens to him and his family come from the destiny that he couldn’t change it and he knows this fact.
Another subject which could be mentioned as a difference between these two stories is the process of revenge in both. In Freydūn’s story we could see the patient of him for taking revenge. Iraj’s grandson -Manuchihr- takes revenge and becomes king of Iranshahr so the good members of royal family continue the kingdom. It resembles the ancient Iranian myths that although there are some battles between goodness and evil and through these battles some good ones are killed and destroyed but at last Ahura-mazda and his forces are victorious. But in Lear story all the members are killed and in the end of story we would see the ruin of the whole royal family.

Conclusion

The theme of both stories is the battle between evil and goodness but there are some differences that it shows the dissimilarity between their origins.
Freydūn is a hero that has some ahūric signs. He does well as a father and king from the beginning of story. It seems he has an ahūric wisdom, so he decides to do the best. The end of story he is an old wised man as the beginning. He divides his kingdom between his sons wisely although he is aware the hatred between their sons. We could see the destruction of evil and triumph of goodness at the end of story.
But in the king Lear we would see that he makes a bad decision, in the beginning, according to a test that he couldn’t distinguish its authencity, so it seems that the sad ending of the story is the result of his decision. Lear’s character changes through the story. He becomes a wise man at the end of story and could distinguish the evil ones from the good ones. At the End of King Lear tragedy both good ones and bad ones are dead and no one from the royal family remains that could continue the kingdom.It seems that suffering and punishment in this story come from the Greek mythology.
So we could see although there are many similarities between these two stories, there are some differences that comes from the different myths which their roots are there.