FATHER, SON AND THE HOLY WATER: THE SACREDNESS OF THE HERO'S INĠTĠATĠON ĠN KÖROĞLU'S NARRATĠONS ON IRANĠAN TURKS

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Abstract

The main hero of the Köroğlu Epic, which is one of the most common epics told in the geography from the Balkans to East Turkistan and accepted as the common value of the Turkish World, is mentioned with the words Köroğlu or Goroğlu, which means "son of a blind person" or "born in a grave". The wise personality of Köroğlu's father, Mehter Alı, plays a role in the initiation of the hero in the "Mehter Alı Epic", in which the emergence of this hero, whose name is Köroğlu in Iranian Turkish narratives. In this article, which examines the signs that are considered sacred in this initiation and how the wisdom of Mehter Alı is constructed in the epic narrative, the signs of the extraordinary gained in the initiation of both the hero and his horse are exemplified in several branches of the Köroğlu Epic compiled in the same country.
The initiation of the hero (UrĢan), who will be named Köroğlu in this branch, evolves as Mehter Alı, who is aware of the extraordinary powers that nature has given him, transforms his son UrĢan, who is an ordinary individual, into a hero by using his wisdom. In all stages of the hero's initiation adventure in the narrative, thanks to this wisdom of his father, UrĢan reaches to the sword (mısri sword) produced from the lightning stone, which is considered sacred in Turkish culture, the horses (Kırat and Dorat), which are the complement and most important assistant of the hero, the strategic place where he settled (Çamlıbel), and finally, the holy water (KoĢa Bulak), which he obtained his cry, the hero's most effective weapon and which helps him both in his love and in overcoming his enemy. In this study, we will examine the wisdom of Mehter Alı in the initiation of Köroğlu and the indicators that are effective in turning an individual into a hero.