The Decline in the Character of Ayyār in the Story of Hossein Kurd-e Shabestari

Among the most popular oral stories are those about heroes and Ayyârân, which are often written long after the events they narrate occurred. "Abumuslemnama", "Hamzaname" and "Samak-e Ayyar" are some of the oldest stories, and "Hossein Kurd-e Shabestari" is almost the latest. The story of "Hossein Kurd-e Shabestari" was narrated during the Safavid era and is regarded as a continuation of the Ayyāri tradition and oral storytelling. The analysis of the story of "Hossein Kurd-e Shabestari" reveals that the character of Ayyār in this story differs significantly from those in previous stories on the surface and on the behavioral level. The purpose of this paper is to investigate these differences using descriptive and analytical methods. According to the results of this study, "Hossein Kurd" was a common, maverick hero who did not exhibit heroic behavioral delicacies like Samak that were characteristic of Ayyârân. "Hossein Kurd" is an illiterate hero who does not possess the privileges of acuteness, prudence or the skills of eloquence, as opposed to the previous Ayyâr heroes who were examples of conscious, educated, articulate, and knowledgeable heroes. The results of this study indicate that the character of a conscious hero is being replaced by an illiterate hero, who is devoid of any sense of awareness or rational thought.