Challenging death through fairy tales : a comparative study of the narratives of Alcestis, Dumrul, Inanna, and Savitri

Abstract

By examining fairy tales comparatively, it is possible to find out common intercultural motives and to interpret other shared cultural features. By looking at how differently those motives work, the peculiarity of cultural structures are analysed. This essay interprets similar and different cultural features in the narratives of Alcestis, Dumrul, Inanna, and Savitri, within the context of "initiaion" theory. As a result, it is shown that fairy tales make use of initiative patterns and present them camouflaged under symbols and transformed signs to both the human unconscious and the modern age.