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Yasami far M, Khosravi shakib M, Sepahvandi M. The Analysis of the Story Silent City Through Joseph Campbell's Model of the Hero's Journey. CFL 2020; 8 (34) :93-123
URL: http://cfl.modares.ac.ir/article-11-41709-en.html

Abstract
Mythology has always been associated with new capabilities from a different perspective, which highlights the explanation, understanding, and spiritual energy of the literary works for the reader. Through the archetype of the hero's journey, Campbell tries to show that most of the heroes in folk tales need to go through certain stages in order to gain self-knowledge, spiritual perfection, and spiritual and material gifts. Silent City is one of the folk tales of Lorestan province, which embeds the flawless archetype of Campbell's "Heroic Journey", and represents three main stages of "departure", "arrival" and "return". The protagonist, going through the physical and spiritual stages, finds a harmonious and godly existence by which he can have a useful possession of the physical world. In this story, traces of myths, religions, and insights, related to the creation of man and the world of creation, are much prevalent.
Research background
In this article, the story of Silent City from the book of folk tales of Lorestan is analyzed (Farahvashi, 2018). So far, no research has been done on the analysis of the symbols and elements of this story. Considering that the subject of the present study is the study of this story based on the theories of Joseph Campbell, two studies related to this subject are referred to: an applied studied following the theory; 2. a study entitled "The hero's journey in the story of Hamam Badgard based on Campbell and Jung's analyses which tries to connect the necessity of the hero's journey with the human needs for psychological development.
Objectives, questions, and hypotheses
The current study analyzes the story of Silent City based on Campbell's mythical theory of "Heroic Journey" and aims to see to what extent the story of Silent City, with different stages of "Heroic Journey", matches with Campbell's theory? The premise of the article is that the journey pattern of Campbell's hero and its various stages have a specific overlap with the rawness, experience, and maturity of the hero in the story of Silent City.

The protagonist of this story travels along the sea with the colt following the call of a wise, who seeks special land from an unknown land to heal the eyes of the king. At the beginning of the journey, the hero picks up a feather from a spring, and then, when he reaches a dark and silent city, he lights it. The city lights up. He is taken to the palace. At the request of his daughter, the king asks the hero for three things: 1. Chicken, 2. Cage, and 3. Forty horses. During the next forty days, the hero travels to a distant land to accompany the sea to meet the king's wishes. In one of the journeys, the fairy king's daughter accompanies the hero. The king asks the hero to stay silent in the city forever; but the hero does not accept it because he has to take special soil with him to heal his father's eyes. At the end of the story, after healing his father's eyes and encountering his brothers' jealousy, he returns to the silent city and marries the king's daughter. According to the archetypal stages of the hero's journey, the stages of the hero's journey in this story are analyzed based on Campbell's theory.
Departure (invitation to start the journey, rejection of the invitation, occult help, crossing the first threshold, and whale belly)
In this story, the blindness of the king and the coming of the wise are signs of invitation to travel and movement, and making the younger boy aware. The little boy's disregard for Hakim's call at first, as well as his father's dissatisfaction, can be equated with "rejecting the invitation." In the story of the silent city, we see that the sea is with the hero as an unseen aid and inhuman helper from the beginning to the end of the journey. As the guardian of the threshold, the sea urchin forbids him to remove the springs to protect them; but the hero crosses the threshold and reaches the silent city. This city is actually the stage of the whale's abdomen considering the stages of Joseph Campbell's departure.
The rite of atonement (test road, meeting with Goddess, Gods, and lord of two worlds)
Upon entering the king's palace, the hero must pass three important tests: 1. bringing a chicken, which is a symbol of the human soul and spirit, 2. Bringing a cage, which is a symbol of the human body and spirits, and 3. Bringing a horse of forty ponies, which is a symbol of the devil. Accomplishing these missions, he becomes a worthy hero, a carpenter of a princess or a goddess, and finds a godly existence. He becomes like a lord who wanders with ease without hesitation in both the material and transcendental worlds.
Return (refusal to return, crossing the threshold of return, extraterrestrial savior, ultimate achievement, reconciliation and harmony with the father, and liberation and freedom)
The protagonist of this story does not accept the king's request to stay in the silent city and remembers that he was looking for soil to heal his father's eyes, so he must return. He steps into darkness from the material and earthly world, and then goes to the transcendental land and paradise. After that, he returns to the material world with the solution of life and the final blessing. The "fairy" who came from a transcendental land with the hero is like a savior who saves him from the clutches of the earthly wicked. The ultimate achievement of the hero is the light of life and the spirit of life for the silent city, and the solution of light for the king's eyes. The hero of the story, successfully completing the cycle of departure, arrival, and return, is now ready to take on the difficult responsibilities of life like a father. But since the protagonist of this story is not dependent on his father's successor, he leaves the city silently and without any dependence, and because of this trust, he finally achieves everything.

The journey pattern in the story of Silent City, like the journey of most mythical heroes in a circular round trip, completes the process of individuality and self-awareness of the hero. The main character of the story, in the course of telling the story, becomes a hero who achieves inner freedom and liberation with the help of his helper - the sea and the fairy. The story of Silent City, addresses the inner levels of the human psyche, and subconscious - the little son of the family - and the use of psychoanalytic symbols and codes showed a complete form of paying homage to the hero's journey. In this story, while showing the overlap and application of the archetype of Campbell's "Hero's Journey", the hero's journey in the context of numerous and complex social and psychological obstacles and tests, achieves ontological knowledge and ultimately discovers love.