יסודות מיתיים בתמת'בן סבר ושפיפון בן ליש': לדרכו של סיפור

This paper examines three aspects of the theme 'Ben Sever and Shefifon Ben Laish': (a) The narrative materials can be classified into two paradigms: those with a moral content and those with a mythic content. The one reflects a teleological tendency, characteristic of Jewish sources, to emphasize the power of charity, prayer, and Torah against the verdict of death. The other paradigm indicates mythic connotations, expressed by configurations of 'a dragon residing by a river' and 'a cloud hovering over a house'; by narrative functions such as a dragon helping the hero to surmount a natural obstacle; and by a narrative frame that describes various tests the hero has to undergo in his struggle for his life. (b) The versions of the theme are divided into two groups: one elaborates the descriptions and the other abbreviates them and blurs the mythic potential. (c) There is a relative concentration of versions among European Jewry in the 13th and 14th centuries, presenting the story in its elaborate and extended formulation. This testifies to the way the theme was received in the European Jewish world of the middle ages. The discussion of these three aspects seeks to cast light on the characteristics of a medieval story and its evolution down to its treatment in modern literature.