Journal of Literary Studies
Year:2012 | Volume:45 | Issue:2 (177)|Papers Count:6

Review, study, and “pathological” analysis of researches related to Ferdowsi and the Shahnama are necessary because of the great number of such works. In 1370’s, researches about the Shahnama increased dramatically in comparison to the previous years and many articles with a variety of contents were printed in different journals. In this study, the quality of the articles in the abovementioned period has been studied and a number of their shortcomings have been enumerated. These include: neglecting the literature review, references to non-authoritative editions of the Shahnama, using inappropriate language, descriptive and superficial nature of the study, lack of coherence, repetition, imposition of meaning to the texts, unfamiliarity with the stories and characters and the content-title incompatibility.

According to Wejarkard i denig, the brave and blessed Esfandiyar becomes brazen-bodied by the praying of the prophet Asu-Zarduxst in the ceremony of Dron Yast. The prophet gives him some pomegranate seeds and Esfandiyar is rendered invulnerable. Pahlavi Zand i Vandidad says that Esfandiyar cannot be hurt, harmed, threatened or wounded by sword, knife or any other weapon because of his invulnerability. However, in the Shahnama of Ferdowsi, Esfandiyar has vulnerable eyes. There are some similarities between the characteristics and functions of Esfandiyar of the Shahnama and Achilles in Greek mythology due to the combination of the old Iranian and ancient Greek cultures. The overwhelming influence of the Greek culture in Persia was because of a ruling Greek government in Bacteria from 250 to 130 B.C.

This article aims to show that the recent story of Zahhak is in fact a re-modeling of the creation myth. This theory is proved through the comparison of the structural elements of the Zoroastrian myth of creation with the story of Zahhak from the Shahnama. For this purpose, initially, a summary of the creation myth is presented in three parts. Then, it is concluded that the triple division of Zahhak’s story corresponds to the three-thousand-year period of the creation myth. The comparison will subsequently reveal that Zurvan, Ahriman, Urmazd and their functions are recreated in the functions and characteristics of Jamshid, Zahhak, and Fereidoon respectively.

According to the tradition and Ferdowsi’s Shahnama, the well-known Iranian national epic, Homay Chehrzad is the first Iranian sovereign queen of the Keyanid origin. Her life was an amalgamation of ancient Iranian myth, epic and history. She was the daughter, wife and successor to the throne of Bahman Ardeshir, son of Esfandiyar. The sovereignty of Homay was not expected by the society. Therefore, the unusual supremacy of a woman and her adopting the responsibility of the traditionally masculine office was a controversial and challenging experience. This might be the underlying reason behind the varying accounts and details associated with Homay: the eight names ascribed to her, the same identity of her father and husband, abandoning her child secretly in the river, her strange story of finding her son Darab and different reports regarding her reign, many of which have been the subjects of hot debates in historical, feminist and epic fields. The aim of this article is to analyze various hypotheses regarding Homay’s private life and her reign within the framework of Feminist criticism. The study also intends to answer this question: Has Homey’s social status as a female sovereign caused diversity of narratives and alteration of her life events?

Samak-e Ayyar has been told by Sadaghat ebn-e Abolghasem in the same way it was recounted in public places. Faramarz ebn-e Khodadad-e Arrajani, in turn, has adopted and retold the story, retaining the same stylistic features used by professional public reciters.Ayyari tricks and stratagems are of magical and military nature and are used by common people, wanderers, magicians and fairies in this work. Examples of the frequently used stratagems are: casting the lasso, using anesthetics, telling lies, passing oneself as someone else, …. The method of constructing prisons, buildings, basements and escape ways are all unique and bespeak the craftiness and ingenuity of those who employ them. These tricks are sometimes used to benevolent ends; they can also be resorted to for hostile purposes. In both cases, such tricks are of great strategic value to the users.

“Word-order” is one of the most central concepts in ancient rhetoric and Islamic Ilm-al-Balagha. This article attempts to compare this concept in these two rhetorical systems. In the first section, “word-order” as part of a more pervasive concept of “composition” is discussed. Since Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ “On Literary Composition” represents the most comprehensive attitude to “word-order”, most of the first section is devoted to an exposition of this work. The second section is dedicated to the concept of “Nazm” in Islamic rhetoric and its most acknowledged representative, al-Jurjani. After addressing the similarities and differences of the Islamic and Western approaches to this concept, the article concludes that there is nothing original in Jurjani’s views, and all he has said about “Nazm” can be found in a more coherent way in the ancient Western rhetoric. In fact, contrary to what scholars hold about al- Jurjani, his approach not only did not result in the flourishment of the Islamic rhetoric, but also led to its stagnation and ossification.