Fereydun A hero of Iranian myths and legends | |
|---|---|
| فریدون | |
.jpg) Oil painting of Fereydun. Made inQajar Iran during the mid-19th-century. | |
| Born | |
| Other names | Afereydun(آفریدون) |
| Known for | Victory overAzhi Dahaka |
| Spouse | ArnavazShahrnaz |
| Children | SalmTurIraj |
| Parents | |
Fereydun (Avestan:𐬚𐬭𐬀𐬉𐬙𐬀𐬊𐬥𐬀,romanized: Thraētaona,Middle Persian:𐭯𐭫𐭩𐭲𐭥𐭭,romanized: Frēdōn;New Persian:فریدون,Fereydūn/Farīdūn) is anIranian mythical king andhero from thePishdadian dynasty. He is known as an emblem of victory, justice, and generosity inPersian literature.[1]
According to Abolala Soudavar, Fereydun is partially a reflection ofCyrus the Great (r. 550 – 530 BC), the firstAchaemenidKing of Kings.[2]
All of the forms of the name shown above derive, by regular sound laws, fromProto-Iranian*Θraitauna- (AvestanΘraētaona-) andProto-Indo-Iranian*Traitaunas.
Traitaunas is a derivative (withaugmentative suffix -una/-auna) ofTritas, the name of a deity or hero reflected in the VedicTrita and the AvestanΘrita. Both names are identical to the adjective meaning "the third", a term used of a minor deity associated with two other deities to form atriad. In the IndianVedas, Trita is associated withthunder gods andwind gods. Trita is also calledĀptya, a name that is probably cognate withĀθβiya, the name of Thraetaona's father in theAvestā, Zoroastrian texts collated in the third century. Traitaunas may therefore be interpreted as "the great son of Tritas". The name was borrowed fromParthian intoClassical Armenian asHrudēn.
In theAvestā, Thraetaona is the son ofAθβiya, and so is calledĀθβiyāni, meaning "from the family ofAθβiya". He was recorded as the killer of the dragonZahhak (Aži Dahāk).
On the contrary, in Middle Persian texts, Dahāka/Dahāg was instead imprisoned onMount Damavand inAmol.
According toFerdowsi'sShahnameh, Fereydun was the son ofĀbtin, one of the descendants ofJamšid. Fereydun, together withKāve, revolted against the tyrannical king,Zahāk, defeated and arrested him in theAlborz Mountains. Afterwards, Fereydun became the king, marriedArnavāz and, according to the myth, ruled the country for about 500 years. At the end of his life, he allocated his kingdom to his three sons,Salm,Tur, andIraj.
Iraj was Fereydun's youngest and favored son, and inherited the best part of the kingdom, namely Iran. Salm inheritedAnatolia ("Rûm", more generally meaning theRoman Empire, the Greco-Roman world, or just "the West"), and Tur inheritedCentral Asia ("Turān", all the lands north and east of theAmu Darya, as far asChina), respectively. This aroused Iraj's brothers' envy, and encouraged them to murder him. After the murder of Iraj, Fereydun enthroned Iraj's grandson,Manučehr. Manučehr's attempt to avenge his grandfather's murder initiated theIranian-Turanian wars.
| Preceded by | Legendary Kings of theŠāhnāme 1800–2300 (afterKeyumars) | Succeeded by |
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