By: Dr. Arash Afraz

(Postdoctoral Associate, MIT)

Wednesday April 11th 2012, 7:00 PM

MIT Bldg. 1-277

Abstract:

Shahnameh of Ferdowsi summarizes a significant portion of Persian mythology. Being the most elegant one, Ferdowsi’s masterpiece is not the only Shahnameh ever written. In fact, “Shahnameh” was a common term for “history of the Shahs” in the Persian courts of 9th and 10th centuries. Is there a reflection of true history in Shahnameh stories as implied by its name? In this lecture, I will briefly sketch the mythological tree of Shahnameh’s characters and pars it into four main mythological periods. Then I will speculate about the parallels between the major mythological events/characters of Shahnameh and the history of greater Iran. This will be done with special emphasize on the analysis of Kay Khosrow’s character.