KOHAN-NAME-YE ADAB-E FARSI (CLASSICAL PERSIAN LITERATURE)
Year:2010 | Volume:1 | Issue:1|Papers Count:7

In the course of being recreated and reproduced in later periods, old myths undergo a great deal of changes in their my theological characteristics, godlike characters, extraordinary features, and sacredness. Finally, what is left from them is just a story which only possesses some ancient settings and very old elements. In this study, "the deeds of Ardeshir-e-Babakan" a story left from mythology is examined on the basis of its fictional and narrative features. The elements considered in this study are the following: plot, verisimilitude, theme, conflict characterization, point of view, setting, the tone and dialogue. The fact that these elements all exist in the text of "the deeds of Ardeshir-e-Babakan indicates that it has the structure of a story. One of the implications of this story can be proving the existence of the elements of story-telling in ancient Persia. The study can also be employed for the investigation of the above-mentioned elements in the stories belonging to ancient Persia.

Hedonism is a philosophy which encourages pleasure-seeking as a means of forgetting the pains of life and improving one's living.Hedonists believe in seizing the day for pleasure. This philosophy and manner of life has a very long record in history. Epicure, the Greek philosopher, founded a school of hedonism which in spite of very strong oppositions moved it self along and acquired a number of adherents.The Epicureans, reject gods and after-life and believe that the life of man is limited to this world. Therefore, man should be happy as long as he lives in this world. Such thoughts can also be observed in the Shahnameh by Ferdowsi. The Iranian Kings and heroes, in their feasts and celebrations drink wine and listen to the music of the troubadours. However, wine and music are not enough and they also seek the company of women. The kings and heroes also enjoy hunting and the game of polo. The Shahnameh is abundant with pleasures and scenes of enjoyment and the philosophy of Epicure also prescribes pleasure-seeking and enjoyment.However, the adjustment of pleasure-seeking in the Shahnameh with the philosophy of Epicure is questionable. It is hardly possible to see the pleasure-seeking in the heroic world of the Shahnameh and the one in the philosophy of Epicure, the gloomy philosopher, the same. There are certainly some basic distinctions between them which are stated in the section on Epicureanism and the Shahnameh.

Mawlana has followed a special type of story-telling in Mathnavi. He has incorporated several anecdotes inside each main anecdote and has joined them together by several parables. Some basic questions which attract one's attention are the following: Has Mawlana had any special intention in this regard? Has he included these anecdotes only for the sake of following a chain of associations without any clear or specific purpose? In other words, are there any relationships between the main stories and the sub-anecdotes? The author of this study has attempted to deal with the story of Dezh-e-Houshroba in the sixth book of Mathnavi and find the relations between the main story and the sub-anecdotes in this work. In this study, the text is divided into smaller chunks and the relation between the chunks become analyzed based on the model given by the French structuralist critic Gremias.

The purpose of this study is to deal with the epic adventures of Rustam and his family. Research indicates that the story of Rustam has Sokai origins.Rustam and Zal do not appear in Avesta and their very sporadic existence in Pahlavid literature approves that they have Sokai origins.When Sokaies arrived the eastern parts of Iran, they changed the name of "Zarank" into Sistan. This tribe brought a combination of the culture of the states of central Asia. This culture which was made of a combination of the Iranian, Greek and Indian themes, was also affected by the kushani culture and its artistic proliferations.Based on the oral traditions and the written legacy of the eastern parts of Iran and the Great khurasan, which were propagated by Gusans (troubadours), and were written at his time, Ferdowsi changed the prose texts into a very brilliant poetic work.Ferdowsi, having set aside the ancient heroes, made Rustam the central hero of all the stories of the Shahnameh and by starting from Manuchehr Pishdadi to the Kianid Goshtasp, he covered a period of almost 700 years, Ferdowsi's main intention was to maintain the unity of Iran's epic, the Shahnameh.The consideration of other dynastic works belonging to the same genre as the Shahnameh intensifies this supposition that they all have been formed out of the same text and the same form. Some of these works are Bahmannameh, Faramarz nameh, Borzunameh, Jahangirnameh, etc.Most of the names in this heroic family also exist in Bahmannameh. The names belonging to women are fewer than those belonging to men.

Sleep and dream belong to the mysterious realm of human life and they are very difficult to know, interpret and impossible to fully comprehend. The interpretation of dreams and their analyses are among the most complex and mysterious human activities.Relating the dreams in the anecdotes of the Shahnameh plays a major role in the creation of hopes and desires to achieve one's wishes, and to instigate fear and threat for the prevention of certain deeds. At the same time, dreams are very important in the formation of stories.The heroes and kings see some of the actions and events which may occur in future in their dreams, and dreams may contain news of dejection and very unpleasant incidents. Most of the important characters in the Shahnameh have at least seen once a dream of what will happen in the future. Therefore, the investigation of the role of dreams in the Shahnameh may be rewarding and necessary. This article attempts to deal with the role of dreams in the Shahnameh by analyzing their impacts upon the kings and heroes.

Persian poetry not only reflects the emotions and thoughts of Persian poets but also provides ample room for the presentation of thoughts, beliefs, customs and cultures governing their society. Therefore, it is helpful to investigate elements of the folklore in their poetry from two perspectives which are very interactional: first, extracting the cultural characteristics and features of these elements from the works of these poets, second, investigating and criticizing the manners and the methods which the Iranian poets have applied in order to present these cultural elements and to display them as poetic devices.One of these folkloric elements which is very noticeable in the cultures of all nations in the world is the concept of Evil Eye. This concept is observable almost every where from the old legends of the past, and the religious texts down to the present-day internet websites. In Persian poetry, one can encounter a great number of lines dealing with the Evil Eye. The diversity and the number of these lines indicate the cultural and literary significance of this element in literary texts and poems.Surveying the collections of poems, the divans, of the great Iranian poets reveals that the element of evil eye has been probed by these poets from various points of views and considerations. The poets have created a great deal of concepts out of evil eye through the use of conceits and metaphors unprecedented anywhere before.

In the heroic realm of Iran's literature a great number of motifs have attracted the attention of the scholars, however, throughout centuries in the Shahnameh, the motif of fame and fame-seeking may be the most conspicuous. Honor and fame play very significant roles in the Shahnameh by Ferdosi. Fame has adopted several motifs and the heroes in the Shahnameh all attempt to achieve fame and are sacrificed for it. Fame is the greatest wish of the heroes in the Shahnameh. It is among the most integrated motifs in Iran's greatest national epic. The present article attempts to introduce fame as the most pivotal element in Iran's ancient tales and as one of the most integrated and outstanding elements in the Shahnameh.