Investigating the Sense of Inferiority in Antarah ibn Shaddad Character in his Poems

One common issue in literary criticism is the way spiritual concerns of a writer is reflected in his/her work. Since literary texts borrow their nature from human soul, they can be affected by the mental condition of their writers. This mutual relationship is a fact of all periods and literary tradition of the whole world. This article intends to show the sense of inferiority in 'Antarah ibn Shaddad' character and how this feeling is reflected in all aspects of his character.
Theoretical Framework
Definition of the sense of inferiority: Inferiority is a phenomenon most of people are involved with. It has both negative and positive aspects. The origin should be sought in a failure that faces the desire to superiority (Mansoor, 1990, 13). In the first step, family environment plays a negative role (ibid, 17). This feeling takes formin the childhood. There are two sources for this feeling inside a person; one is organic and the other is neglect (Schulz, 1998, 139).
Knowing 'Antarah ibn Shaddad'
He was an Arab warrior, horse rider and poet, who was born in the "Najd" in the year 525 AD. His mother, Zibieh and an Ethiopian slave girl, grew him up. Since he was the son of a slave, he was also known as a slave (Fakhori, 1986, 204 and 205). Some believe that his father's name was Shaddad while others name him Amru Ibne Shaddad. It was only when Antarah supported "Bani Ays" tribe against the attack of their enemies that his father confessed that Antarah was his son (Esfahani, Bita, 239/8). Although, he defended the tribe in wars by his own courage, he was always contempted by his community (Badavi, 1988, 281).
This is a descriptive-analytical research, which describes the life of Antarah ibn Shaddad together with the most important symptoms of inferiority collected from psychological resources. The symptoms of this feeling are demonstrated by using the collection of his own poems.
According to the findings, the analysis of the works and poems of previous poets is effective via new sciences, and this can help us gain a better understanding of old literature. By investigating the poems of Antarah and testing the feasibility of Adler's principles of psychology in his poems, it is determined that many inferiority signs are manifest in his character. Antarah's feeling of inferiority is reflected in characteristics such as pride, altruism, revenge, the desire to be seen etc. This feeling was the provoking force of Antarah's behaviors, and it was the same sense of superiority which was the driving force behind his major behaviors and distinguished his character from those of others. What was a final goal of war and love for other poets was an instrument for him to get to his own goals, including going to war and writing poems. From his perspective, love was a means for proving the positive sides of his character and for overcoming the sense of inferiority. Given the meaning of his poems, this feeling never turned to a sort of inferiority complex for him.