There are extensive discussions about the Iranian national epical char-acters, particularly Rostam, among researchers and scholars in this field. Using the ancient sources in Iranian and other languages, and comparing them to the Shāhnāme, these researchers and scholars have tried to identify Rostam and find the origin of the character. Thus, many different figures have been suggested as the origin of Rostam’s character, amongst which can be mentioned: Apąm Napāt, Bah-rām, Mithras (Mehr), Tishtar, Vāyu, Garshāsp, Indra, Krishna, Arjuna, Rāma, Gon-dophares, Surenā.This article examines some of the most important elements and fragments of Rostam’s personality, and suggests that, instead of focusing on the whole of Rostam as a fragmented figure, it is better to analyze the elements of his personality with a morphological approach. After that one can attempt to find out the origin and root of each individual element, and why and how it originated and came to be identified with the figure of Rostam figure. By applying this approach, we will be able to plau-sibly identify the character of Rostam

One of the major concerns of the experts of Shāhnāme has always been the discussion on the sources of Ferdowsi’s Shāhnāme. Here are three distinct theories: A) The source or all the sources of Shāhnāme had been ‘written’ and Abumansuri’s Shāhnāme was the only or the main source of Ferdowsi’s Shāhnāme. Many similarities between Shāhnāme and the parallel texts confirm this theory. B) The Shāhnāme was composed based on the narrations which were transmitted by oral traditions; these narrations originated from ‘Gōsān’ narrations and oral storytelling traditions; even Ferdowsi, himself, could be considered as or may be has been one of the members of this group. According to this theory, the signs of orality are obvious through out the Shāhnāme. Among the latest efforts in this group is Kumiko Yamamoto’s work, The Oral Background of Persian Epics: Storytelling and Poetry which in a scientific approach, attempts to find the signs of orality in Shāhnāme. C) Ferdowsi has used both oral and written sources. Not only the similarities and differences between Shāhnāme and the parallel texts, but also the signs in Shāhnāme which refer to oral or written sources can be explained by this theory. In the present article, first, various theories about Ferdowsi’s sources are classified in three groups with reference to their proponents. Furthermore, each of these theories will be critically and briefly analysed. After an introduction to Yamamoto’s work, it is evaluated in the views of the different theories proposed for the sources of Shāhnāme. The present author favours the theory of both oral and written sources in the genesis of Shāhnāme, and, in the light of this theory, some strengths as well as weaknesses of Yamamoto’s work will be discussed. The results show that among these three theories, the third theory has moderately and reasonably handled the case of the sources of Shāhnāme.

The texts of Avesta book, in Avestan language and the script, and other middle Persian works in Pahlavi language and the script are considered first hand resources to recognize Iranian Myths. Direct and unmediated use of reliable resources and pre-Islam works gives a tangible and real conception of the mythological personages and their fates through those silent languages to addressee. So a knowledge of writing system and

Kratylos 59 (2014): 249-53

The Shahname of Firdausi is the longest and oldest national epic poem of Iranians and Persian speakers around the world. The Shahname is regarded by Persian speakers as a literary masterpiece; it is also a repository of Persian’s history and cultural values. Firdausi wrote the Shahname in “pure” Persian. He eschewed words drawn from the Arabic language which had by his time infiltrated the Persian language following the Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century. He did this to preserve and purify the Persian language. It is believed that the main reason the modern Persian language today mirrors the language of the Shahname is due to Firdausi (Yousefi, 1969 & Safa, 2002). In fact the Shahname prescribes the modern Persian language. The Shahname is the mold which produced the bases of contemporary Persian language. This paper aims to focus on selected aspects of the language of the Shahname and its significance as the blueprint for the modern Persian language. Many Persian experts be...

ICANAS 38, 2008

Firdawsi's Shahnameh, widely recognized as the Iranian National Epic, may be considered as the essence of the thousandfold-year Persian culture and civilization. In the depth of several incidents, characters, places, and other elements forming this huge epic work, one can identify traces of some religious beliefs, traditions, or historical events related to the lives of the Iranian people. Some scholars have argued that the contents of the Shahnameh may be divided into three parts: the mythological part, the heroic part, and the historical part. Although such a categorization highlights the presence of the heroic element in this epic, the present study suggests that, chronologically speaking, one can divide the types of relationships existing among the major characters appearing in the Shahnameh (i.e., between kings and heroes) into two eras. While the first era is marked by a "king-hero" type of relationship, in which, due to the absence of distinct social classes, indeed, both of the roles are played by the same character; the second era is characterized by a "king-and-hero" relationship, in which, as distinct social classes gradually develop, the two characters assume two different identities and social roles.

2012

Myths and religions are among the most unknown and valuable areas in the human cultural scope and the mythical elements are linked with the disciplines of that area like thick branches. One of those characters is a hero called Garshasp that according to the religious texts does many difficult tasks to save the earth and men from the Divas and dragons; however in literary tests such as Shahnameh, there is no manifestation of him and his tasks. Garshasp is one of the mythical heroes of ancient Iran of Pishdadian hero. This hero of ancient Iranian religious texts has many heroic acts in his records; although, due to his disrespect to fire, Urmazd prevents his ascendance to the heavenly paradise and even Zoroaster’s meddling is not able to include him in the list of paradise goers and Izad (Zoroastrian God) does not allow him to enter into paradise. Nonetheless, in the national versions, his place and description of heroic acts are all given to Rostam and Shahnameh becomes a book of des...

Jangal Publications, 2025

This book is designed to help advanced English learners improve their language skills through reading an exciting story full of vivid characters and dramatic events. It has been written in five chapters, each including relevant vocabulary and writing exercises to enhance your learning experience. The answer key is available at the end of the book to help you check your progress. As you read, pay attention to the themes of courage, identity, and the power of truth. Enjoy this journey into the rich world of Persian mythology — and may it inspire you in your language learning adventure!

NABU, 2023

Water has been of much importance for human life specifically in the deserted and dried areas like Iranian plateau. Human beings always would gather around water to establish great civilizations along the river banks. Oxus is an important animating river of Asia where the ancient Aryan civilization has come into being on its two sides by developing the great cultural cities like Balkh, Marv, Bukhara, Khwarizm, Gorganj and Khiveh. Various names as Aab, Rood Amu, Darya, daryaye Panj, Oxus etc have been given to this river in historical sources specially shahnameh being regarded as the natural border of Iran and Turan and the boundary Khorasan and Transoxiana in most of the historic sources like Shahnameh where numerous events have taken place on both the sides. In this article, by searching into the name, oldness and the impact of this river on the historic and prehistoric incidents, its multidimensional mythical, historical and literary functions as the natural boundary has been discussed. It became clear that its role in the development of the events of shahnameh has been extraordinary .

“Ricoeur on collective identities”, November 15-17, 2021, Institute für Medien und Kultur , University of Trier, 2021

Shahnameh is one of the greatest books of Iranian culture. Although this work is a collection of mixed contents in which historical and mythical motifs are gathered together, it has been considered as a historical source through the past centuries. Actually, Ferdowsi has narrated ancient kingships and their concepts of legitimacy through stories that have imaginative configurations. This book has constituted different aspects of Iranian culture through centuries, such as art, politics, and social influences as well as effects on individual minds. In this paper, by using Ricoeurˊs theory of narrative identity, we aim to indicate how this imaginative history has constituted a collective identity in this culture. Paul Ricoeur characterizes identity concerning the narrative to show that self-knowledge is a dynamic process. In this theory, by encountering the world of the text, our world can be reformed and refigured, hence we may recognize ourselves differently. This narrative identity, as a poetic and indirect way to self-understanding, can be individual or collective. In other words, one of the main goals of his theory is that how symbolic language, especially narrative, constitutes an aspect of human self-understanding and affects his actions. As such, what we emphasize in this paper is this relation and its corollary for an understanding of the self as the social groups like historical nations. Here, we focus on Shahnameh as a book of politics and try to interpret one of its basic political terms "Dâd" (justice). This is one of the most pivotal terms which configure the emplotment of the text. In general, it has been attributed to the shah, the king. However, in this narrative, we can see that how "dâd" encompasses all over the kingdom institution and related the shah, the divine, people, and nature together as a coherent whole in which each element has been influenced by another according to the just. By elaborating the narrative, we can see that how this term transforms into characters, motifs, themes, and stories from which we achieve an image that has constructed the main part of Iranian collective identity in history. In this paper, by analyzing the stories, we want to show that how Ferdowsi's fictive articulation of "dâd" has formed a collective conception that through centuries figured the relation of people and systems of power.

AI

A Layered Heart: Essays on Persian Poetry, a Celebration in Honor of Dick Davis, 2018

Traces the background to the legend of the Iranian hero Rostam

ORIENTALIA SUECANA, 2010

Mohl, an early editor and translator of the Shāhnāme, began the discussion on Ferdowsi's sources in the Shāhnāme in 1878. From that time until now, it has been one of main issues of discussion among experts on the Shāhnāme and Iranian culture. One can find various theories on Ferdowsi's sources in the numerous works and articles which are published ever so often. One of the latest works in this field is Kumiko Yamamoto's book The Oral Background of Persian Epics: Storytelling and Poetry. In the present article, first, various theories about Ferdowsi's sources are classified in three groups with reference to their proponents, and then each of these theories is critically and briefly analysed. After a detailed introduction to Kumiko Yamamoto's work, it is evaluated in view of the different theories proposed for the sources of the Shāhnāme. The present author favours the theory of both oral and written sources in the genesis of the Shāhnāme, and, in light of this, some strengths as well as weaknesses of this work are discussed in this extended review.

2015

Shahnameh, one of the most important literary works of the world that, from the perspective of a variety of criticism and review. Given that, this effect is based precious and many great stories, and one of the main elements of the story, the character, is, so in this paper, we investigate Rostam character in the story "Rostam and Sohrab" and "Rostam and Esfandiar" will be discussed. Rostam in the Ferdowsi's view, is' perfect human, with attributes such as: if the crown section, angry elephant, famous ancient, world champion, valiant, brave, patriotism, courage in battle and the care and. . . ,Accompanied . When Rostam different story, behavioral and moral differences. Rostam character to deal with Sohrab, some of which humans are the cause, and a gray and semibright character, but in the face of Esfandiar, Rostam personality characteristics have changed, and so far not a perfect man and unrivaled hero. © 2015 Elixir All rights reserved Elixir Literature ...

Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (03 September 2013, Sarajevo, Bosnia), 2013

The death of the Persian dynast Rostam b. Farrokh-Hormozd at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah during the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran received much attention in both the Islamic conquest literature and the Persian epic tradition canonised in the Shāh-nāmeh. In my paper, I examine various literary representations of Rostam’s death and demonstrate how they reflect different attitudes regarding Iran and Islam. A scion of a leading Sāsānian family, Rostam served as the power behind the throne in the empire’s last years. Unsurprisingly, the recording of his death involved great embellishment and little can be determined about the actual circumstances of the incident. Arabic accounts depict his end in a humiliating manner, combining ominous symbolism and humourous elements to convey a didactic message about the overturning of the existing order through the rise of Islam. By contrast, the Shāh-nāmeh recasts Rostam’s death in a heroïc light; killed not by an anonymous fighter, he falls in single combat with the Arab commander in a personification of the clash between the imperial Sāsānian order and the nascent Islamic movement. Furthermore, it attributes his demise not to the direct actions of his opponent but to the appearance of a dust storm, underscoring the theme that fate decreed the fall of the Sāsānians and fortune no longer smiled upon the land of Iran. A careful examination of the narratives of early Islamic history teaches us much about the mindset of those living in the first centuries following the momentous events of the Seventh Century. By removing the layers of literary embellishment and moralistic exegesis, we can understand better the impact of the death of this Sāsānian dynast. In addition, I argue that, by comparing the narrative traditions, we can uncover valuable testimony regarding the early development of what might later be described as an Islamic Iranian identity.

2006

Shapur Shahbazi Memorial Volume, 2024

Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, 2016

The present study aimed to review the prominent character of Fereydūn in ancient Iranian literature with an emphasis on the evidence, sentences and expression from the Avesta written in Avestan language as well as the original middle Persian works in Pahlavi language and to compare and analyze them with some of the poems in the Shahnameh that were consistent with Fereydūn character in ancient texts. In this study, according to trifunctional hypothesis, it was found that the cattle and its symbols in the myth of Fereydūnhas played an important role in the social structure of the Indo-Iranian agriculture-oriented tribes, since the herds of cattle has been closely associated with agriculture and cultivation. Among these tribes, the aspect of wāstaryōšīh θraētaona is more predominant than other aspects in the trifunctional hypothesis. While the θraētaona in another manifestation of the aspects (i.e., in the position of ARTĒŠTĀR") has reached this quality and aspect of his character to the peak by crushing down the powerful dragon (He is described as a monster serpent bodied, three headed and six eyed. But in other respects Aži Dahāka has human qualities, and is never a mere animal) and resulting the victorious end. Nevertheless, according to the repeated Yashts in the Avesta, this Yazata aimed to take savang havãcha and arənavāči (simple of rainy clouds and lactating cows) back from the bondage of the dragon of the drought.

Bashiri Working Papers on Central Asia and Iran, 2021

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ai9-3X6FGKw This essay investigates the steps that, over the centuries, some Iranians have taken to transform the ancient values that, according to the Shahname, create Iranian identity into the Shi'ite values prevalent in present-day Iran. In the process, the roles that the zurkhaneh, ta'ziyeh, the farr, and velayat play in this regard, too, are explained in detail.

Bagh-e Nazar, 2017

According to many researchers writting of the great shahnameh was supported by ilkhanids to legitimize their dynasy by making relations between Ilkhanid kings and mythical iranan kings. ● Purpose The current study aims to shed light on the significan role of Shahnameh in legitimation and Persianism of Mongols. ● Method This artice has been written by the use of discource and liberary method and analysis of important paintings and is based on Foucault’s geneology theory. ● Statement of the Problem in this article , persianism means the procces that Mongols went through in order to replace their own culture with Iranian culture and legitimize themselves ● Conclusion It can be inferred from the results that contrary to the initial discourse1 which was based on Ghenghis’s yasa2 that Ilkhanid dynasty is devided into 3 stages : 1.the first one is known for Ghenghis’s invasion and victories in wars and represents terror and fear. 2.this stage is called power and domination discourse because of ilkhanid’s attacks that led to conquest of iran. 3.at the last stage ilkhanid rulers converted to islam and became adapted to iranian culture. this situation caused the establishment of basics of persianization. Shahnameh was used by Mongols in order to replace themselves with mythical kings of iran. they selectively chose some illustrations of Shahnameh that could be helpful in emphasizing the similarities of the mythical kings and Mongol rulers so that they could be more acceptable for Iranian people. this shows the significant role of Shahnameh on their way to Persianism and legitimation.

Characterization is an important element of fiction. After creating the characters of a story, the storyteller exposes them to the reader in a special way. The story of the Battle of YAZDAH ROKH Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, despite the use of storytelling techniques, especially characterization, has received less attention from scholars in the field than similar stories in the Shahnameh and it justifies the need for more recent research. This study, while quoted from the story of the Battle of Ferdowsi's YAZDAH ROKH, seeks to explore different ways of personalizing the story. In this regard, various methods of characterization in this story have been studied using descriptive and analytical methods and using library data. The results of this study show that in the structure of the story of the Battle of the YAZDAH ROKH, two ways of characterization have been used; characterization division methods based on static and dynamic And characterization methods Based on logically description and dramatic description. Among these methods, Dramatic description is the most important way to present the characters in this story.

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