GE 12- WORLD LITERATURE

SUBMITTED TO: MR. JESSIE DELA CRUZ

SUBMITTED BY: ELYZA M. AMERIN

MARJORIE M. MIRANDA

MARGELYN S. TESIO
I. AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND
Hakim Abu al-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi was born in 940. Ferdowsi means paradise and
both words are often the same root. When the Arab Muslims took over, there was a shift
from P to F, because there is no P sound in Arabic. So, Perdisi or paradise in English,
became Ferdowsi. Parsi became Farsi. The Persians who fled Muslims to India, still call
themselves Parsis and practice Zoroastrian religion.
Ferdowsi was born in city of Tus, near Modern city of Mashad in north-eastern Iran, in
the province of Khorasan in a well-off family of land owners, and spent his life writing this
book showing remarkable patience and dedication.
According to the narrative of Nezami, Ferdowsi died inopportunely just as Sultan
Mahmoud had determined to make amends for his shabby treatment of the poet by
sending him 60,000 dinars' worth of indigo. Nezami does not mention the date of
Ferdowsi's death. The earliest date given by later authorities is 1020 and the latest 1026
CE; it is certain that he lived to be more than 80.

II. BACKGROUND OF THE WORK

According to scholars, Ferdowsi began the book of kings in 977 CE. Legend has it that
he undertook the work over 30 years to raise money for his daughter’s dowry. The
Shahnameh was written at a time when modern Persian had started to flourish the
structures and the standards for the language were set. The Shahnameh (Chronicle of
Kings) is an epic poem in the Persian language that tells the myths, legends, and history
of the Iranian people. A massive work comprised of over fifty thousand rhyming couplets,
the Shahnameh starts at the dawn of time and ends with the fall of the Sassanian
dynasty, the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire which fell to Arab Muslim conquerors in 636.
Ferdowsi became a renowned poet and was given the job by the King to write down
history of Persia. The King put Ferdowsi in a special room in his palace, which had
paintings covering the walls, to inspire Ferdowsi’s poetry. The King told Ferdowsi that he
would pay him 1,000 gold for each 1,000 couplets that he managed to write. But after 30
years of spending time writing 60,000 couplets, the King failed to give him 60,000 gold as
promised. Ferdowsi felt the King did not praised his work or value him enough. The King,
on the other hand, thought Ferdowsi was much too proud and only gave him 60,000
silver pieces instead of gold.
Bitterly disappointed, he went to the bath and, on coming out, bought a draft of foqa'
(a kind of beer) and divided the whole of the money between the bath attendant and the
seller of foqa'. Fearing the Sultan's wrath, he fled first to Herat, where he was in hiding
for six months, and then, by way of his native Tus, to Mazanderan, where he found refuge
at the court of the Sepahbad Shahreyar, whose family claimed descent from the last of
the Sasanians.
There, Ferdowsi composed a satire of 100 verses on Sultan Mahmoud that he inserted
in the preface of the Shahnameh and read it to Shahreyar, at the same time offering to
dedicate the poem to him, as a descendant of the ancient kings of Persia, instead of to
Mahmoud. Shahreyar, however, persuaded him to leave the dedication to Mahmoud,
bought the satire from him for 1,000 dirhams a verse, and had it expunged from the
poem. The whole text of this satire, bearing every mark of authenticity, has survived to
the present
In the sense that the Shahnameh tells the story of monarchs who ruled over a land
called Iran and the heroes who fought on their behalf, it is rightly referred to as the
Iranian national epic. In that sense, we can think of the Shahnameh as a literary
expression of the values, ideals and aspirations of the Iranian people whose existence,
according to the text, predates recorded history. Thus, the myths, legends, history,
 language, and culture of the ancient Persia has been evidently preserved as what
Ferdowsi reasons of writing such masterpiece.

III. READING OF THE POEM

Shahnameh (The Epic of Kings)

By: Hakim Abu al-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi

The Shahnameh, literally meaning 'Book of Kings,' is structured according to the

mythical and historical reign of 50 Persian Kings. The epic can be roughly divided into
three parts: the first part tells of the mythical creation of Persia and its earliest mythical
past; the second part tells of the legendary Kings and the heroes Rostam and Sohrab; the
third part blends historical fact with legend, telling of the semi-mythical adventures of
actual historical Kings.

Part one: Mythical

 Opens with a cosmography and the creation of the world out of nothing.
 The reign of Jamshid for 700 hundred years.
 The rule of Zahhak the evil Serpent King who is finally killed by the blacksmith.
 The rule of Faridun and his sons.

Part two: Heroic

 The birth and reign of Zal.

 The birth of his son Rostam.
 The reign of Rostam for 300 years, during which he overcomes seven heroic trials
and many demons, marries Tahmina.
 The birth of Sohrab.
 The death of Sohrab by his own father, Rostam.

Part three: History

 The reigns and adventures of, among others: Key Khosrow; Siyavush; Goshtasp;
Esfandiyar; Darius; Alexander, and Bahram Gur.

IV. WHAT DOES EVERY STANZA CONVEY?

"The houses that are the dwelling of today will sink beneath shower and sunshine to
decay but storm and rain shall never mar the palace that I have built with my poetry."
-Ferdowsi

The mythical section is pretty short and deals with creation of first people, the
discovery of fire, Zoroastrian religion and agriculture. An interesting thing in this section
is Zahak, the Arab king with two snakes growing on each shoulder on human brain. In
this section, people live for hundreds of years, similar to those in the Jewish bible. The
origin of Nowruz, the Persian New Year is also explained in this section. The world is
divided into three kingdoms, Iran, Turan (or Central Asia) and Salm (Anatolia and
Caucuses).

The heroic section, which is the 60% of the book, is mainly about one family of
heroes, and the heart of it is one man, Rostam. His father, Zal, an albino man, raised by a
mythical bird Simurgh or Phoenix. Rostam is like Hercules or Achilles in Homer’s Iliad, he
is the bravest and noblest man. Rostam is always called for when the kingdom is under
 attack. So, he is a king-saver. Despite his invincibility, his human, sometimes makes
terrible mistakes. The most heart-wrenching part of Shahnameh is when Rostam kills
Sohrab, only to find that he was his own son. Rostam’s grief is so overwhelming as if his
world has turned into a complete and utter darkness. This giant of a man is reduced to
gut-wrenching sorrow.

Siyawash is another tragic hero, accused of rape and goes through fire to prove his
innocence. Yet, later murdered by the Turanian king and becomes a symbol of innocence
and an absolute victim. At some point, Rostam is too old and refuses to save the king
from another Turanian attack. Iran is saved by another hero, Esfayndyar. He challenges
Rostam. In this epic battle, Rostam shoots an arrow to Esfayndyar’s eyes. But he is
devastated for killing another Iranian hero. This is a bad omen, he knew it. Soon after,
Rostam’s half-brother, with the help from the king of Kabul, incidentally, his mother was
also from Kabul, plots against him and kills him.

The historical section deals with the historical events from Alexander’s invasion to the
Arab invasionin 650 AD. Western readers might jump to the section of Alexander the
Great, but fictionalized by Ferdowsi as half-Persian and half-Greek. Alexander’s mother is
a Greek Princess, but after the Iranian King sleeps with her, he is repulsed by her bad
breath that the king decides to send her back to Greece (maybe, Ferdowsi is really taking
revenge on the endless insults from the Greeks over centuries about how terrible the
Persians were.) The young man takes revenge a few years later and conquers Persia. In
this section, the main hero is Bahram Chubineh, and some good kings and some terrible
kings. It ends when the Arab Muslim shows up to replace the throne with a religious altar.

"As this famous book comes to an end the country will be full of talk about me
whoever has intelligence, judgement and religion will pour blessings on me after I die. But
I will not die after this, I will remain alive, as I have scattered the seeds of speech." -
Ferdowsi

V. WHO IS THE SPEAKER OF THE POEM?

Shahnameh covers historical events and written by Ferdowsi, hence, the speaker of the
poem is the author himself.

VI. WHAT IS THE TONE & MOOD OF THE POEM?

Shahnameh is the most significant Persian epic masterpiece and it is the world's
lengthiest epic poem written by a single poet. Shahnameh mainly describes mythical and
historical dimensions of the Persian Empire in series of stories. The manifestation of love in
the stories of Shahnameh is a real stimulus to prowess and epic. In this regard, Ferdowsi
delicately paid attention in developing women characters of Shahnameh. Interestingly, it is
found that in Shahnameh stories, gallantry alone cannot help a hero reach his goals unless
love and affection are combined with it. Also, some research shows that some women in
Shahnameh express their love consciously over their beloved man. Furthermore, social
roles of women in the romantic stories are categorized in political, martial, and artistic
forms and further discussed.
Taken as a whole, the Shahnameh might read as tragedy. It tells the story, after all, of
a once great civilization faced with utter defeat in the poem’s closing lines. But the cultural
revival taking place in Ferdowsi’s lifetime also suggests that at least the notion of a
Persian civilization had endured well beyond the period when the poem ends. Likewise, the
fact that the Shahnameh continues to be read, adapted and performed over a millennium
after its composition would itself bear witness to the cultural legacy of a civilization that
Ferdowsi not only mourns but celebrates.
VII. STYLE OF THE AUTHOR
An indicative point that enhances the assumption of the artisan's attention to such visual
similes and metaphors is the use of the following verse:
 "Though not yet come to fruition, we have to give up and surrender her to the
enemy / only the wind can count all of our sufferings
 "a dragon amidst the cloud"
 "the fight of the lion and the male zebra”
 ''the cypress tree and the budded tree"
 “two cypress trees", and "the working gardener".
Besides, there are 6 visual metaphors, including
 "the hawk and the phoenix (Simurgh)"
 "the river and its surrounding green area"
 "the fight of the lion and the sheep"
 "two cypress trees beside each other"
 "the cypress tree and the budded tree"
 "picking of the buds"

Moreover, the visual irony of "fastening the waistband" has been used once. Some
characters that represent symbolic and coded concepts more than other elements can be
considered a symbols of the evolution of gods to kings and against them there are devilish
kings as symbols of drought (Apush). The other symbolic elements are the epic-romance
stories, imaginary creatures, symbolic dreams of kings and heroes, symbolic numbers,
symbolic patterns of flags, the symbolism of water, fire and charism. More than other
elements, are the constitutive elements of mythological symbols, and the tension between
these human elements depicts the mutual conflict between good and evil in Ferdowsi’s
Shahnameh. Like other elements, symbolic characters (especially kings) are of symbolic
value and constitute a part of constructing elements of mythological symbols in
Shahnameh.

VIII. CONFLICT
a. Man VS. Man
When the there was a war and Rostam fought against Turanian and during the
passage from myth to epic, the conflict between the two forces of good and evil
appear in various aspects of existence.
b. Man VS. Self
When Rostam killed his own son, he felt so much grief against himself and devastated
for killing another Iranian hero.
c. Man VS. Fate
The heart-wrenching moment of Rostam, when he killed Sohrab. Only to find out that
fate really made Rostam realized that even if he is strong and invincible, there will be
really a time that he can’t fight against his fate, and that is when he killed his own son
at the end of a battle.

IX. THEMES
The main theme in this Iranian mythology is the dual nature of creation. Ferdowsi believes
in dualism: good evil; Iran, Turan, just and unjust kings. He believes in cyclical nature of
life as kings come and go. Despite his fatalistic view, he also believes in change through
wisdom. His message is “life being so short and good times ends quickly”. It is clear,
Ferdowsi thinks of legacy is very important in life as he spent all his life to do just that.
Although the majority of the stories in the Shahnameh involve battles and struggles
between forces of good and evil, other themes include love, humor, and the supernatural.
 One of the principal themes concerns kingship and the relationship between sovereign and
their subjects.

X. CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS
Shahnameh is considered the Bible or Quran of Persian language, but it is more than that.
It is central in the modern notion of Iran and Iranian national identity and even state
building. Iranian secular intellectuals consider it sacred and their proudest treasure and a
thread that connects modern Iran with pre-Islamic Iran, but as well as a source of anxiety
and nostalgia among some as to what they have lost, so can keep you stuck in the past.
REFERENCES

Ashrafzadeh, R. (2020). Women in Shahnameh: An overview on Mythical, Lyrical and

Social Aspects. Revista Humanidades, 10(1), 59-67.

Clayton, S. P., (2005). Life of Ferdowsi: About the life of the Shahnameh poet Ferdowsi.
Retrieved from
https://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/inside/corner/ferdowsilife/lifeferdowsi.html

Dabashi, H. (2019). The Shahnameh. Columbia University Press.

Fiction Beast. (2020). Shahnameh by Ferdowsi summary and analysis (most important
book of Persian literature). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/SrroBpUGx3w

Iran Chamber Society (2022). Persian Language and Literature: Story of Ferdowsi and
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iranchamber.com/literature/ferdowsi/story_ferdowsi_shahnameh.php

Mohammadi, A. THE UNPARALLELED LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ROLE OF FERDOWSI’S

SHAHNAME IN SHAPING AND CONSOLIDATING PERSIAN NATIONALITY IDENTITY
OVER THE CENTURIES.

Nafisi, A. (2016). Shahnameh: The Persian book of kings. Penguin Classics