(Re)-Killing of a Sacred Deer: Myths, Ecology, and Hegemony in Murathan Mungan’s Deer Curses

Abstract This article traces the motif of the deer hunt from ancient Greek texts to its reinterpretation in contemporary Turkish literature. The motif, which appears frequently in both ancient Greek myths and the legends of Central Asian warrior Turkish societies, is reproduced as a fusion in the works of contemporary Turkish writer Murathan Mungan (*1955). The meanings attached to the motif take on a different dimension during this reproduction, which has implications for themes such as taboo, transgression, and the hierarchy of animal-human relationships in folk narrative. An analysis of Mungan’s play Deer Curses can aid in elucidating the points of folk narrative in regard to these themes and anthropocentrism. This article thus investigates how the motif of the deer hunt, among other deer-related motifs, is revived in a contemporary literary work and what type of conclusions it may bring in analyzing human-animal relationships, as well as hegemony, through a symbolic reading of this relationship.